Albrecht Dürer: Impressions of the Renaissance

Throughout my career as a student, I have been head-over-heals in love with history. I am a History major at Vassar, and basically live in Swift Hall, the Department's colonial-style home. But I have also had a secret affair, a clandestine crush, and secondary academic mistress. Her name? Art History. In high school, I took an amazing AP Art History course, and absolutely fell in love. As soon as my teacher turned on the projector and the slide image of the caves of Lascaux popped up, I was hooked.

Alas, a few too many people in the "real world" discouraged my passion. On the blogs, Art History routinely tops the list of the world's most "useless" and "worthless" majors. Sigh.

Fortunately, Vassar inspires students like myself to cultivate my passions. Although I am a major in History (and double in Political Science), I can also maintain my quirky, fun, and fascinating minor in Art History.

And Vassar's Art History Department is one of the best in the world. We have world-class art historians, famous in their areas of expertise. We also have one of the world's finest college art museums in the United States — The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Our collections include more than 18,000 works of painting, drawing, sculpture and tapestry. It includes Picasso, Rembrandt, O'Keeffe, and Matisse.

And now, with the opening of Albrect Durer: Impressions of the Renaissance, we can see Vassar's incredible collection of Durer and his incomparable Northern Renaissance work.