The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 7, 2023

Coat of Arms with a Skull

1503

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)

Germany, early 16th Century

Engraving

Support: Cream(3) laid paper

Sheet: 22.2 x 15.9 cm (8 3/4 x 6 1/4 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1953.9

Catalogue raisonné: Meder 1932, 98

Location

not on view

Description

In this visual allegory, Dürer creatively entangled themes of love and death. The hairy wild man, a traditional medieval figure of virility, lust, and aggression, plays the role of lover to a maiden dressed in alluring clothing. The skull on the fanciful coat of arms is a bold reminder that vanity and illicit desire carry a mortal price.

Inscriptions

Inscription

lower center, in plate: 1503 ; lower center, in plate: AD[in monogram] ; VERSO, lower right, in pen and brown ink: P. mariette 1667

Provenance
Pierre Mariette, 1667, Paris
Alfred Hubert, Paris
Pierre Mariette (1634-1716), Paris, inscription (Lugt 1789), verso, lower right, in pen and brown ink. Alfred Hubert (died 1908), Paris, stamp (Lugt 130), verso, lower left, in black. John Charrington (born 1856), Shenley, England, stamp (Lugt 572), lower right, embossed. purchased from (William H. Schab)
Exhibition history

Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).

Prints and Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-September 9, 1965).

Old Master Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29, 1966-February 28, 1967).

Albrecht Dürer - 500th Anniversary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 19-March 28, 1971).

Durer. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (organizer) (April 6-May 8, 1971).

Eight Masters of the Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 14, 1980-January 18, 1981).

Design and Decoration: Ornament Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 7-October 28, 1990).

Dürer’s Women: Images of Devotion and Desire. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 28, 2014).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.9