Curator

  • Art Institute Chicago
  • Harvard art museum
  • My Exhibition
A work made of engraving in black on tan laid paper.

Lady on Horseback and Landsknecht

c. 1497

Albrecht Dürer German, 1471-1528

Germany

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.

Engraving in black on tan laid paper

Prints and Drawings