Durban
the seaport of the colony of Natal, south Africa: on the N. shore of a nearly land-locked tidal bay. The climate, though hot in one or two summer months, is healthy and suitable for Europeans. The town was laid out by the Dutch, who formed a republic in Natal before the British, under Sir Benjamin D'Urban, took the colony in 1842. The public buildings include a capacious town hall, museum, library, etc. The Town Gardens form a conspicuous open space in the middle of the town, and besides the Botanical Gardens, there are two public parks. The residences of the inhabitants are chiefly situated on the Berea, a low range of hills overlooking the town. The port, which has a lighthouse, is the entrepôt for coal from several interior parts of the colony. Great harbor works (1888-1895) have made the inner harbor (4,700 acres) accessible at all times to vessels of deep draught.
During the war against the Boers in 1899-1900 the British made Durban a base of supplies. Pop. (1918) 48,413.
DÜRER DÜRER, ALBERT, a German painter, designer, sculptor, and engraver on wood and metal; born in Nürnberg in 1471.
His father was a skillful goldsmith of Hungary. In 1486 he left his father's trade and became an apprentice of Michael Wohlgemuth, then the best painter in Nürnberg. At Nürnberg he married the daughter of Hans Frey, a mechanic, who has been falsely accused for centuries of embittering his life and bringing him to his grave. In 1505 he went to Venice to improve himself in his art. He painted the "Martyrdom of Bartholomew" for St. Mark's Church, which painting was purchased by the Emperor Rudolph and removed to Prague. He also traveled to Bologna, to improve his knowledge of perspective.
On his return to Nürnberg his fame spread far and wide. Maximilian I. appointed him his court painter, and Charles V. confirmed him in this office.
He was the first in Germany who taught the rules of perspective, and of the pro- ALBERT DURER portions of the human figure. He not only made use of the burin, like his predecessors, but was also among the first to practice etching. He invented the method of printing woodcuts with two colors. Among his masterpieces in painting are a "Crucifixion," "Adam and Eve," an "Adoration of the Magi," the "Adoration of the Trinity," in the Belvedere Gallery, Vienna; and portraits of Raphael, Erasmus, and Melanchthon, who were his friends. Among his best engravings on copper are his "Fortune," "Melancholy," "Adam and Eve in Paradise," "St. Hubert," "St. Jerome," and the "Smaller Passion" (so called), in 16 plates. Among his best engravings on wood are the "Greater Passion" (so called), in 13 plates; the "Smaller Passion," with the frontispiece, 37 pieces; DURESS the "Revelations of St. John," with the frontispiece, 15 plates; the "Life of Mary," two prints, with the frontispiece.
Dürer has also much merit as a writer, and published works on "Human Proportion," "Fortification," and the "Use of the Compass and Square." He died in Nürnberg in 1528.