Bidspirit auction | Albrecht Dürer: Knight, Death and

Albrecht Dürer: Knight, Death and the Devil - DÜRER , ALBRECHT 1471 Nuremberg–1528 Nuremberg Title: Knight, Death and the Devil. Subtitle: Bartsch 98, Meder 74. Technique: Copperplate engraving on paper (watermark ”Stehender Hund). Mounting: Partly mounted on the upper edge. Measurement: 24.5 x 19cm. Notation: Monogrammed and dated in the plate lower left: 1513 / AD. Frame: Framed. This copperplate engraving is one of the most famous works by the great artistic pioneer Albrecht Dürer. It is one of the three so-called ”masterpieces” – alongside the engravings ”Melancholia I” and ”Hieronymus in the Cage”, which were created around the same time. Due to their innovative atmospheric quality, their multi-layered meanings, but above all their technically outstanding execution, these three prints have been accorded a special status within Dürer’s oeuvre and within the art of printmaking. ”Knight, Death and the Devil” forms part of Europe’s visual heritage. It serves to illustrate the pre-eminent status of Albrecht Dürer, who – particularly through his widely circulated prints – brought new perspectives and visual concepts into the modern era. This full-page print, dated in the plate 1513, is presented here in a wonderfully high-contrast print. The watermark (a standing dog) suggests that this may be a print from the artist’s lifetime. In the foreground, perfectly aligned with the composition, strides the ideal of the well-proportioned horse, almost statuesque in appearance, carrying the lance-wielding knight. A faithful dog accompanies the focused pair, who remain undisturbed by the two figures attempting to make contact: Death, also crowned with serpents, sitting on a weary mare, addresses the rider and shows him an hourglass with time (of life) running out; an abstruse devilish creature with a spear and a raised clawed hand watches the knight, who has just passed it, with a hint of disappointment. The scene is set against a high embankment with plants and roots, behind which a high-lying city silhouette rises in the distance. Albrecht Dürer himself referred to this copperplate engraving in his notes simply as ”The Rider”. This figure is also the true protagonist of the scene. He embodies the ideal of the ”Christian Knight”—the man who, clad in the armour of faith, can proceed calmly along his path here, without being daunted by the certainty of his own death or by diabolical temptations. The Rider strides towards the light falling on the scene from the left. In the opposite direction, a lizard flees between the horse’s hind hooves; it can be seen as ”the evil driven out by the Word of God”. In Death and the Devil, the knight encounters his personified fears. But what does reality look like? Dürer seems to have ‘animated’ the tree stumps, roots and rock formations with faces and grimaces. Does the forked branch at the left edge of the picture not resemble the asymmetrical horns of a devil? The human skull, the ‘memento mori’, also clearly belongs to the real world. The certainty of good armour (of faith) protects against frightening impressions on the real path of life just as much as against inner demons; this is how this print can be understood. The ”S” preceding the year in the date panel is interpreted as ”Salus” (= salvation), which makes sense not only as a dating suffix (annus salutis) but also in terms of the work’s content. Provenance: - Private ownership, Germany. Literature: Cf. B. Hausmann: Albrecht Dürer’s Kupferstiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte und Zeichnungen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der dazu verwandten Papiere und deren Wasserzeichen. Hannover, 1861. Here with a reference to the paper bearing watermark No. 35 from the year 1527. Cf. P. Weber: Eine Studie über die drei Stiche Ritter, Tod und Teufel, Melancholie und Hieronymus im Gehäus, Beiträge zu Dürers Weltanschauung. Strassburg, 1900. S. 36. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: The lot is unsuitable for parcel shipping. Transport only by shipping company after consultation following the auction. additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: max. 41.65 Euro over a total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: 1.8 o/oo USA by individual arrangement after the auction. #Albrecht Dürer #Renaissance #Germany #15th C. #Horseman / Horsewoman #Print #16th century #Graphics.