Portrait of Jakob Muffel

Dürer's portrait of Jakob Muffel from 1526 depicts a Nuremberg city councilor and imperial customs officer. Painted in the same year as the Holzschuher portrait, it demonstrates Dürer's late portrait style at its most incisive, capturing the personality of a practical, forceful civic leader Albrecht Dürer brought Italian Renaissance ideas north, combining German Gothic tradition with classical proportions to become the dominant artist in the German-speaking world.

The direct, confrontational gaze and precise rendering of the sitter's weathered features create an image of uncompromising realism, with Dürer's meticulous technique capturing every wrinkle and texture.