38.1994: Samson and the Lion

Identification and Creation

Object Number

38.1994

People

Albrecht Dürer, German (Nuremberg 1471 - 1528 Nuremberg)
Manufactured by Douglass Morse Howell, American (New York NY 1906 - 1994)

Title

Samson and the Lion

Classification

Prints

Work Type

print

Date

c. 1950-c. 1952

Culture

German

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/233332

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Reproduction of the woodcut from an electrotype of a wax cast of the original block, printed in black ink on white handmade paper

Technique

Relief print

Dimensions

block: 38.9 × 27.7 cm (15 5/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
sheet: 42.6 × 33.4 cm (16 3/4 × 13 1/8 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: various graphite inscriptions: L / TEST
• inscription: lower center, woodcut artist's monogram printed in black ink: AD
• collector's mark: verso, blue stamp with accession number written within in graphite: bicuspid shape inscribed 94 [Marjorie B. Cohn (not in Lugt)]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Estate of Douglass Morse Howell, 1994, sale by executor to private owner, 1994. Executor was Elizabeth Howell King, daughter of the decedent.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State

20th c. reprint from cast of the original block

Standard Reference Number

Bartsch 2, Meder 107

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Anonymous Loan

Object Number

38.1994

Division

Modern and Contemporary Art

Contact

am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

This print was made from a relief block made from a cast of the original woodcut block by Dürer. The project was developed by William Ivins, in connection with his research on whether Dürer had cut his own woodblocks. Ivins collaborated with Douglas Morse Howell to produce the paper used in this print, and this impression was obtained from Howell's daughter.

Commentary

This impression is taken from a stereotype of the block (in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art). It is printed on paper handmade for the edition by Douglas Morse Howell. The edition was commissioned by William Ivins, as part of his study of the authorship of the actual blocks from which Dürer woodcuts were printed. He concluded that some of the blocks for early woodcuts in the Apocalypse and Large Passion series, as well as this print, were cut by Dürer.

Verification Level