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Coat of Arms with a Skull
Albrecht Dürer1503
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
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.
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Details
- Title: Coat of Arms with a Skull
- Creator: Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528)
- Date Created: 1503
- Physical Dimensions: Sheet: 22.2 x 15.9 cm (8 3/4 x 6 1/4 in.)
- 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)
- Type: Print
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.9
- Medium: engraving
- Inscriptions: lower center, in plate: 1503 ; lower center, in plate: AD[in monogram] ; VERSO, lower right, in pen and brown ink: P. mariette 1667
- Department: Prints
- Culture: Germany, early 16th Century
- Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
- Collection: PR - Engraving
- Accession Number: 1953.9
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