Three-quarter back view of a large muscular horse standing in front of a soldier, foreshortening accentuates the muscularity
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The horse faces left, but its eye looks behind at the viewer, with closed and wrinkled mouth. Its hind legs stand on a flat rock, elevating its back end. The horse has a curly mane and partially braided tail, it wears a bridle but no saddle. The solider stands in profile facing left, wearing a decorative helmet and holding a spear axe, only his head and legs are visible. The curls on his helmet mimic those of the horse’s mane. The shallow background suggests a column on the left and dark old stone wall behind them.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
G6756
People
Albrecht Dürer, German (Nuremberg 1471 - 1528 Nuremberg)
Title
The Large Horse
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1505
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/299824

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Engraving printed in black ink on white antique laid paper
Technique
Engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 16.7 x 11.8 cm (6 9/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: AD
  • watermark: Meder watermark 62: bull's head
  • inscription: in block on which the horse's hind feet stand, engraved artist's monogram printed in black ink: AD
  • inscription: in sky at top center, engraved date printed in black ink: . 1505 .
  • inscription: verso, graphite: Bot. of H. Wunderlich Co / May 22, 1888 for $68. -% 10% / $61.50 [underlined twice]
  • collector's mark: verso, black stamp: garter surmounted by a coronet [Walter Francis, 5e Duke of Buccleuch (Lugt 402)]
  • collector's mark: verso, purple stamp with accession number written within in brown ink: GRAY COLLECTION, / 6756 / HARVARD COLLEGE. [within an oval borderline (Lugt 4836)]
  • label: verso, graphite: n 12821

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Walter Francis, fifth Duke of Buccleuch, London and Dalkeith, Scotland (402), Collector, sold at Christie's, 1887. Sale, 9-22 April 1887.
G. B. Maggi, Turin, Italy (1776), 1855.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State
Meder a
Standard Reference Number
Bartsch 97, Meder 91, Strauss 45

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund
Object Number
G6756
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Masterpieces of world art : Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1997
  • Emily J. Peters, ed., The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650, exh. cat., Rhode Island School of Design Museum (Providence, RI, 2009), cat. no. 11, repr. as fig. 7 on p. 19 [not Harvard impression, related bibliography]

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu