The Drunken Man on a Chariot on his Way to Hell, from Hymmelwagen auff dem, wer wol lebt...
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 1/8 in. × 4 in. (15.6 × 10.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Anne and Carl Stern Gift, 1959
Accession Number
59.507.157(15)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the early 16th century, the vibrant Northern Renaissance in Germany, Hans Schäufe—a gifted woodcutter and pupil of Albrecht Dürer—collaborated with Hans von Leondt and publisher Silvan Otmar to vivid moralistic prints like *The Drunken Man on Chariot on his Way Hell*. Produced in 1517 as part of the series *Hymmel auff dem, wer wolbt...* (Heaven's Chariot the Path of Those Who Live Well this small woodcut (6 1/8 × 4 in.) served as a stark warning against vice, reflecting the era's preoccupation with salvation, sin, and the Reformation's call for moral reform. The scene humorously yet griml...
About the Artist
Hans Schäufelein|Hans von Leonrodt|Silvan Otmar · 1480–1540
Hans Schäufelein (c. 1480–c. 1540) was a German painter and graphic artist of the Northern Renaissance whose career placed him at the heart of one of the most dynamic artistic environments in European history. As a young man, he entered the workshop of Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg, an experience that proved decisive: Dürer's meticulous approach to draughtsmanship, his mastery of printmaking, and hi...