The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 1, 2023

Der Weisskunig

The Storming of Nantes

1512–15

Hans Burgkmair

(German, 1473–1531)

Germany, 16th century

Woodcut

Support: Cream(3) laid paper

Sheet: 23.2 x 19.7 cm (9 1/8 x 7 3/4 in.); Image: 21.7 x 19.7 cm (8 9/16 x 7 3/4 in.)

Dudley P. Allen Fund 1960.33

Catalogue raisonné: Hollstein V.117.519

Location

not on view

Description

In this woodcut armored cavalry with lances approach from the left. The town itself is ringed by artillery, as attacking infantry rush through the breached fortifications. Note the use of halberds and pikes, close combat weapons in which the main fighting part is fitted to the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, which extends the user's range and striking power.

Inscriptions

Inscription

lower left, in block: H·B ; lower left, in pen and brown ink[faded]: Der Sturm vor Nantes ; VERSO, lower left, in graphite: [illegible] ; lower left, in graphite: [...?] stark/[...?] ; lower center, in graphite: 05 ; lower right, in graphite: 6.

Exhibition history

Year in Review - Nineteen Hundred Sixty. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 30, 1960-January 1, 1961).

From Block Books to Baskin: Artists as Illustrators. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 13-August 17, 1986).

Albrecht Dürer and His Influence. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 16-March 10, 1991).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.33