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Albrecht Dürer

The Large Horse

Description

Maker

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528), printmaker

Title

The Large Horse

Year

1505

Medium

  • Engraving on laid paper,
  • trimmed along platemark

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Engraving on laid paper,
  • trimmed along platemark

Materials

engraving

Supports

  • Light weight laid paper

Dimensions

Plate: 16.6 x 11.8 cm (6 9/16 x 4 5/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Lettered within image, UC: "1505"; and LR: "AD"

Verso: collector's mark of Karl Eduard von Liphart, Bonn and Florence (1808-1891; Lugt 1687); collector's mark of Franz von Hagens, Dresden (1817-1899; Lugt 1052a)

Inscribed in graphite, centre: "Paris 1775 Mariette"; and LL: "P13278"

Identification

State

Only state

Standard Reference Number

Meder 94

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

30.025

Type

  • Prints

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line
Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Sep 18, 2009 – Jan 03, 2010

Label copy

This print demonstrates Dürer’s mature graphic system, in which he responded to the precision and clarity of engraving, describing both texture and space by varying the direction, density, and arrangement of lines in controlled sections. Short flicks mediate the transitions from highlighted areas to tonal areas, while the darkest shadows are achieved by short lines laid between two longer ones. Elegant s-curves travel across forms to create volume. These uniformly sized sheets were called “half-sheets” and were the most frequent of Dürer’s formats. Such prints offered an atlas for the application of Dürer’s tonal system as they traveled to other practitioners in France, Italy, Spain, and even the New World.

Designed as a companion print to his Small Horse (inv. #30.026), these prints are visual essays on the ideal and naturalistic qualities of the horse. The small horse is presented in profile and perfectly proportioned in a posture related to ancient equestrian statues. The large horse is shown in a unique stance, its hind legs raised, in order to accentuate its muscularity and physical presence.

From Dürer to Van Gogh
Gifts from Eliza Greene Radeke and Helen Metcalf Danforth
Jun 05, 2008 – Oct 26, 2008

Label copy

This engraving accentuates the muscularity and physical presence of the animal through the unusual angle and the raising of its hind legs on a step. During the Renaissance, a horse could symbolize both virility and violence; along with these ideal associations, however, Dürer was interested in displaying the natural qualities of the horse’s muscles and hair.

Helen M. Danforth
A Tribute
Jun 21, 1985 – Sep 08, 1985
Prints and Drawings with a Classical Reference
Dec 15, 1965 – Jan 09, 1966
German Renaissance Graphics from the Museum's Collection
Nov 28, 1961 – Jan 07, 1962
  • More Exhibition History +

Use & Feedback

Image use

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528), printmaker
The Large Horse, 1505
Engraving on laid paper, trimmed along platemark
Plate: 16.6 x 11.8 cm (6 9/16 x 4 5/8 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth 30.025

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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