Workshop in Nuremberg; paintings (1512-1517)

Dürer continued to paint portraits, including a fine panel of his former master, Wolgemut. In his portraiture, he now focuses all attention on the head, shown in close-up and often tightly placed in the frame. Another of Dürer's portraits of 1516 depicts a clergyman. In the same year he painted the heads of two apostles, Philip and James, who have extremely anguished faces. These may well have been intended as part of a set of the 12 apostles.

In 1509 Dürer had been made a member of Nuremberg's Grand Council. This body, consisting of 200 leading citizens, had little real power, but the appointment was a sign of the artist's growing recognition. Four years later Dürer received his first commission from the city, to paint a pair of portraits of Charlemagne and Sigismund. These panels were to hang in the Treasure Chamber where the precious regalia of the Holy Roman Emperors were kept just before they went on their annual public display.