In a recent catalogue raisonné, expert Christof Metzger presents a compelling argument that The Painter's Father (1497), housed in London's National Gallery, is indeed an authentic creation by the renowned artist Albrecht Dürer.
This painting, which was a gift to King Charles I of England in 1636, has historically been regarded as a later copy made long after Dürer's passing in 1528, based on a now-lost original. However, in his new publication Albrecht Dürer: The Complete Paintings, Metzger, who is a Dürer authority and curator at Vienna's Albertina Museum, argues that the painting's face is "preserved so well that the painting's formerly outstanding quality is still perceptible." He emphasizes that this piece stands out from at least seven known early copies due to its "experienced brushwork and masterful glazing technique."
Historically, curators at the National Gallery have held a different perspective. In a 2010 catalogue entry, Marjorie E. Wieseman, the museum's former curator of Dutch paintings, stated that the painting's "quality and technique are not consistent with authentic works by Dürer" and that it "lacks Dürer's sophisticated and highly realistic approach to the modelling of form."
Similarly, Susan Foister, a long-serving curator of German paintings at the museum, noted in a 2024 catalogue that the painting's cracks are not present in Dürer's other works and that the sitter's hair "lacks Dürer's usual fluency and delicacy."
Currently, this artwork is not on display at the National Gallery due to space limitations and its classification as a copy. Nevertheless, reports suggest that the museum might soon reinstate it for public viewing. As of now, the National Gallery's website continues to categorize it as "probably a later sixteenth-century copy of a lost original by Dürer."
