Courtyard of the Former Castle in Innsbruck with Clouds

Albrecht Durer produced several cityscape paintings of the city of Innsbruck, with this one capturing a scene across a courtyard

Both this are the related painting, Courtyard of the Former Castle in Innsbruck without Clouds, were produced in 1494 as standard Durer watercolours. He used a similar approach to some of his animal paintings, perhaps just adding some pen or other medium in order to finish with a little extra detail.

These watercolours are significant in that they display Durer's skills with architectural drawing which is not given as much attention as other genres in his career. When we think about architectural draughtsman or painters from the Renaissance, we don't tend to immediately think of Durer, but clearly the skills were there. Instead, we would probably consider names such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael or Michelangelo.

The main focus of this painting is the small balcony of the gate tower which he places in the centre of the composition. A careful examination of the construction of this work shows up some perculiar choices over perspective. It is unknown whether these resulted from artistic errors or a style used by others at that time. It may, however, explain why his architectural drawings are not promoted as much.

This version is somewhat more dramatic with the cloud scene yet Durer chooses not to impact the rest of the composition from this weather. It is as if they are completely separate and unrelated elements. You will find that the version without clouds has near identical colours and shading on the buildings despite the different asmospheric conditions.

When compared to the likes of the Haystacks and Rouen Cathedral series by Claude Monet, you will see how a specialist in landscapes and cityscapes will better capture the impact of light on all objects across the scene.