The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 24, 2025

Soldier Embracing a Woman

1505–36

Daniel Hopfer

(German, c. 1470–1536)
Germany
etching
Image: 22 x 15.6 cm (8 11/16 x 6 1/8 in.); Sheet: 24.1 x 17.5 cm (9 1/2 x 6 7/8 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1971.246
Catalogue raisonné: Hollstein XV.103.78
Location: Not on view

Description

In this image, a couple embraces in a garden. The man’s dress indicates that he is a German mercenary, who were chastised for loose morals in many prints of the period. The twiglike laurel wreath on his head is a mocking emblem of victory in love and war. His partner meets his gaze and guides his hands, wearing long hair, an open bodice, and a hitched-up skirt suggesting sexual availability. Resonating with Edenic and love garden images, the subject likely operated on the edge of decency for its audience.
  • ?–1971
    (William H. Schab Gallery, New York, NY), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 11, 1971–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Love Gardens / Forbidden Fruit. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 2-October 29, 2023).
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Soldier Embracing a Woman|url=false|author=Daniel Hopfer|year=1505–36|access-date=24 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.246