Death and the Lansquenet
n.d.
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
sheet: 4 13/16 x 3 5/16 in. (12.2 x 8.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
George Khuner Collection, Bequest of Marianne Khuner, 1984
Accession Number
1984.1201.28
Tags
Art Historical Context
In Albrecht Dürer's *Death and the Lansquenet*, a master of the Northern Renaissance confronts viewers with a stark memento mori. This intimate woodcut, measuring just 4 13/16 x 3 5/16 inches, depicts Death—a skeletal figure clutching a spear—surprising a rugged lansquenet, a German mercenary soldier known for his flamboyant attire and fierce reputation during the Renaissance wars. Dürer's precise lines capture the soldier's momentary shock amid weapons and grim inevitability, embodying the era's obsession with mortality. As a pioneering printmaker, Dürer elevated woodcuts from utilitarian il...
About the Artist
Albrecht Dürer · 1471–1528
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) stands as the preeminent figure of the Northern Renaissance and arguably the most influential artist in the history of printmaking. Born in Nuremberg on May 21, 1471, and dying in the same city on April 6, 1528, Dürer revolutionized the status of the artist in Northern Europe, transforming printmaking from a commercial craft into an independent fine art and establishing ...