utifully brilliant, and it is
painted (the accessories particularly) with extraordinary care.

To 1511 belongs also one of his most celebrated pictures, _The Adoration
of the Trinity_, which is also at Vienna, painted for the chapel of the
Landauer Bruederhaus in Nuremberg. Above in the centre of the picture are
seen the First Person, who holds the Saviour in his arms, while the Holy
Spirit is seen above; some angels spread out the priestly mantle of the
Almighty, whilst others hover near with the instruments of Christ's
passion. On the left hand a little lower down is a choir of females with
the Virgin at their head; on the right are the male saints with St John
the Baptist. Below all these kneel a host of the blessed of all ranks
and nations extending over the whole of this part of the picture.
Underneath the whole is a beautiful landscape, and in a corner of the
picture the artist himself richly clothed in a fur mantle, with a tablet
next him with the words, "Albertus Duerer Noricus faciebat anno a
Virginis partu, 1511." It may be assumed beyond doubt that he held in
particular esteem those pictures into which he introduced his own
portrait.

In the Vienna Gallery is also a picture of the year 1512, the Virgin
holding the naked Child in her arms. She has a veil over her head and
blue drapery. Her face is of the form usual with Albert Duerer, but of a
soft and maidenly character; the Child is beautiful--the countenance
particularly so. It is painted with exceeding delicacy of finish.

Two altar-pieces of his earliest period must be mentioned. One is in the
Dresden Gallery, consisting of three pictures painted in tempera on
canvas, representing the Virgin, S. Anthony, and S. Sebastian
respectively. Although this is probably one of his very earliest works,
it is remarkable for the novelty of its treatment and its independence
of tradition.

The other, a little later, is in the Munich Gallery (Nos. 240-3),
painted at the request of the Paumgartner family, for S. Catherine's
Church at Nuremberg, was brought to Munich in 1612 by Maximilian I. The
subject of the middle picture is the Nativity; the Child is in the
centre, surrounded by little angels, whilst the Virgin and Joseph kneel
at the side. The wings contain portraits of the two donors under the
form of S. George and S. Eustace represented as knights in steel armour,
each with his standard, and the former holding the slain dragon.

The year 1526 was distinguished