Albrecht Dürer
Master of the Renaissance

Dürer's papers and watermarks

The National Gallery of Victoria has, in recent times, examined all the papers used by Albrecht Dürer for his engravings, woodcuts and other paper based works of art in the collection. During this research characteristics of the papers were recorded and images of watermarks were taken.

Collecting information about Dürer's papers gives us an insight into the variety of papers used, the availability of paper in Germany during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and possible sources.

Papermaking in 15th and 16th-century Europe

Paper was an expensive commodity in fifteenth and sixteenth century Europe and in fact remained so until the last century. Availability and range was limited, however the papers produced were of a high quality.

Papermaking was a highly skilled craft requiring the combine talents of a group of artisans and much specialist equipment. The source of fibre for most papers came almost exclusively from linen rags. The rags were partially broken down using a fermentation process, then beaten to separate the fibres and mixed with water to form a pulp. The paper sheets were formed from the pulp on a sieve like construction called a 'mould' which was a wooden frame supporting a mesh of brass wires with a removable raised edge or 'deckle'.

The mould and deckle were dipped into a vat of the warm pulp mixture picking up a layer of fibre (the paper sheet) which was transferred onto a felt blanket. A pile of alternating sheets and felts was constructed, then pressed to remove most of the water. The pressing was repeated with the sheets alone and finally the paper was dried, sized and given surface treatments as required.

How is a watermark constructed?

The watermark is a design made of bent wire sewn on to a papermaking 'mould'. When a sheet of paper is formed it is thinner in the areas of the wire so that when it is held up to the light a pattern corresponding to the wire design is visible. These designs are enormously varied and can denote such things as: the area the paper came from, the particular mill, the papermaker and the size of the sheet.

The general study of watermarks

Watermarks have been systematically studied since the nineteenth century. Their dates and hence the time of manufacture of the paper have been assigned from dated documents, printed books and dated works of art (such as prints). While watermarks are a great aid to the dating of works, they are usually studied in conjunction with other evidence. Papermaking mills would have many moulds with the same identifying watermark and a single mould would be used continuously over a number of years. Study of a single watermark design can show changes such as wear, repairs and small design changes.

Two of the better known publications solely on the subject of watermarks are Charles Moise Briquet's Les Filigranes: Dictionnaire historique des marques du papier des leur apparition ver 1282 jusqu'en en 1600 and Edward Heawood's Watermarks: Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Monumenta Chartae Papyraceae Historiam Illustrantia. These two publications describe and illustrate some of the earliest known sightings of particular watermarks.

In more recent times scholars have studied the papers of single artists, for instance Rembrandt and Michelangelo. Dürer was one of the first single artists whose papers were studied, by the author Joseph Meder. Meder's comprehensive study of Dürer's papers titled Dürer: Katalog was published in 1932 and has been an important source of reference for scholars since its publication.

Examples of watermarks found in Dürer prints in the NGV collection 

From this study, over sixty different watermarks were found, of which there are variations on a number of designs. The most popular of the watermarks found were the bull's head (and variations on), the high crown and the imperial orb. Research continues into the origin of the many watermarks recorded.

Here are three examples of watermarks found in prints in the NGV collection. The images of the watermarks have been captured using beta-radiography. According to Meder, these three watermarks are found in the papers Dürer used early in his lifetime.