Original Dürer! Dürer makes money

Did you know? Albrecht Dürer was a self-made millionaire!

This time, the Original Dürer series is all about money. Using original prints by Dürer and coins from his time, we will be looking at how much money Dürer sold his prints for. For the anonymous market, he had developed a pricing system based on the size of the prints. It was aimed at large sales and was affordable for many people. Product examples from Dürer's time are used to compare prices in order to illustrate the values. For example, a small Dürer print cost about as much as half a roast chicken, for the price of two medium-sized prints Dürer bought a belt and for the price of a large-format print he bought two small books or a wooden bowl and plate. Dürer sold his books with woodcut sequences, such as the Life of Mary or the Great Passion, for a quarter of a guilder per book. For the same money, the artist bought himself a bag, for example, or a pair of shoes, and paid the same amount several times for visits to the doctor. He sometimes received significantly higher sums from high-ranking patrons and private direct sales. In 1519, Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg paid 200 guilders for his small-format portrait in copperplate engraving and an additional 13 metres of damask for the printing plate, including 200 prints of the copperplate engraving. This corresponded to around four times the average annual income of a simple craftsman.

With loans from the Germanisches Nationalmuseum (Germanic National Museum).

Last edited on 08.11.2025