Soldier Embracing a Woman
Medium
etching
Dimensions
image: 22 × 15.6 cm · sheet: 24.1 × 17.5 cm
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
1971.246
Tags
male
About this artwork
In this image, a couple embraces in a garden. The man’s dress indicates that he is a German mercenary, who were chastised for loose morals in many prints of the period. The twiglike laurel wreath on his head is a mocking emblem of victory in love and war. His partner meets his gaze and guides his hands, wearing long hair, an open bodice, and a hitched-up skirt suggesting sexual availability. Resonating with Edenic and love garden images, the subject likely operated on the edge of decency for its...