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Albrecht Dürer, printmaker

The Small Horse, 1505

Description

Maker

  • Albrecht Dürer, 1471-1528, German, printmaker

Title

The Small Horse

Year

1505

Medium

Engraving on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • engraving

Supports

  • Light weight cream laid paper

Dimensions

Plate: 16.5 x 10.8 cm (6 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

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

Verso: inscribed in pen and ink: "P. mariette 1664"; and in graphite LL: "P13279"

No watermark visible.

Identification

State

Only state

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Prints

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

30.026

Projects & Publications

Publications

The Brilliant Line

Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Read Online

Dürer-Katalog

Ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line

September 18, 2009 - January 3, 2010

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 Large Horse (inv. #30.025), 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.

German Renaissance Graphics from the Museum's Collection

November 28, 1961 - January 7, 1962

German Etchings and Engravings

April 30 - June 9, 1953

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is The Small Horse with the accession number of 30.026. To request high-resolution files or 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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