83 frantzeska papadopoulou skarp Dürer applied his monogram to his single-leaf woodcuts, and from 1496 he used the monogram for all “major woodcuts”. He was very early in realizing that such a monogram could constitute a certificate of status and quality, and its use was not only meant to mark his work as an artist, but also as a logo of the workshop. Dürer applied his monogram in his capacity of a publisher of the works of others.32 When Dürer launches himself as a new master of the city of Nuremberg with his self-portrait, choosing to place his monogram in a predominant place, he actually elevates its role to that of a contemporary branding campaign. The choice of the monogram itself is rather strightforward, ADfor Albrecht Dürer. At the same time, in this launching self-portrait, Dürer seems to want to avoid any misunderstandings. On the other side of the portrait and at the same height as the monogram, Dürer announces his name, age and the date when this portrait was made. This cannot have been but a conscious choice. According to Panofsky, Dürer put his monogram on the woodcuts not only to mark that he is the author of the design, creation or cut, but more because he was persuaded that he had to provide evidence of the fact that these were produced under his own responsibility, their quality was a matter of personal reputation. In other words, prints that were marked with his monogram, were such that originated from, were sponsored and approved by Dürer.33 (see figure 2, p.82) While Dürer was famous as a painter, he became internationally recognized as a woodcut master. The woodcuts that made him famous, were also the ones to be broadly copied in Germany and abroad. In order to protect himself and his art, Dürer marked his woodcuts with his monogram and the year of production. What is interesting to note is the way the monogram is most of the times a well-integrated component in the actual motive of the woodcut, as if the brand is part of the work of art. (see figure 3, p.86–87) 31 Koerner, Joseph. The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1993. Print, 3 pp. 187–203. 32 Hanß, Stefan. ‘The nature of lines: enviromateriality and ingenuity in Albrecht Dürer’s material world’, inAlbrecht Dürer’s material world, edited by Edward H. Wouk and Jennifer Spinks, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2023, pp. 49–61. 33 Panofsky, Erwin, The Life and art of Albrecht Dürer, 1955.
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