Lady on Horseback and Landsknecht
c. 1497
Medium
Engraving in black on tan laid paper
Dimensions
Image/sheet: 10.6 × 7.7 cm (4 3/16 × 3 1/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
28253
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This tender image celebrates the unlikely love between a noblewoman and a mercenary. The lady is mounted and wears her lover’s feathered hat, indicating she has the upper hand in the relationship. The soldier’s sword hilt serves as an suggestion of baser desires, but his grip on her elbow is more than matched by her hold on his shoulder. Urs Graf’s nearby woodcut features a Landsknecht with a more typical paramour, a prostitute.
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 ...