Artwork Page for The Sea Monster

Details / Information for The Sea Monster

The Sea Monster

c. 1501

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Culture
Germany, late 15th-early 16th Century
Medium
engraving
Measurements
Sheet: 24.5 x 18.6 cm (9 5/8 x 7 5/16 in.); Mat Size: 49 x 36.3 cm (19 5/16 x 14 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1934.340
Catalogue raisonné
Meder 66
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The precise narrative of Dürer’s Sea Monster remains a source of debate among scholars because locating the origin of this imagery in either classical or German mythology has been difficult. The engraving depicts a woman’s abduction by a horned mythical hybrid creature that has the torso of a man and the tail of a fish. Set before a detailed coastal landscape featuring Nuremberg castle, the woman’s companions across the river flail their arms in distress over her kidnapping. While it is clear that Dürer aimed to showcase his achievements in portraying a reclining female nude, her somewhat blasé appearance and lack of struggle add to the peculiarity of this image.
A vertically oriented print in black ink depicts a bearded, antlered sea monster carrying a reclining nude woman across water. Her face is turned toward a shore where figures stand and run. In the background, a massive stone castle and town top a steep cliff. Fine lines create dense textures in the turbulent waves and billowing clouds, and the artist's monogram sits at the bottom center.

The Sea Monster

c. 1501

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Germany, late 15th-early 16th Century

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