The Dream of the Doctor

c. 1500

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)

Culture

Germany, late 15th-early 16th Century

Medium

engraving

Measurements

Image: 19 x 12.2 cm (7 1/2 x 4 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1934.341

Catalogue raisonné

Meder 70a

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Description

Scholars generally agree that this curious engraving represents the contemporary proverb "Idling is the pillow of the devil," a moral message against the sin of sloth. Here, a middle-aged scholar dozes before a warm stove. The devil hovers behind him and uses a fireplace bellows to kindle impure desires. Aroused by the devil’s sinful provocation, the scholar’s subconscious conjures Venus, an object of lustful temptation. Dürer’s image explores the realm of dreams and innermost thought in association with powerful female sexuality. Like many of his other engravings of this early period, Dürer uses obscure, moralistic stories to consider the female nude both creatively and intellectually. Although aimed at a primarily cultured male audience, Dürer presents Venus as a source of desire not only for the sinful idler, but for the viewer as well.