ALBRECHT DÜRER (1471-1528)

Name: The Abduction of Proserpine
Brand: ALBRECHT DÜRER (1471-1528)
Price: 1900.00 USD
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised USD 2,375

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USD 1,200 - USD 1,800

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The Abduction of Proserpine

ALBRECHT DÜRER (1471-1528)

Price Realised USD 2,375

ALBRECHT DÜRER (1471-1528)
The Abduction of Proserpine
etching, 1516, on thin laid paper, watermark Cross in Heart (Meder 156), a strong Meder c impression, with various rustmarks in the plate, printed around 1564, trimmed outside the borderline on three sides and just fractionally into the subject above, the sheet corners very skilfully made up, a few other small, unobtrusive repairs
Sheet 304 x 210 mm.

Provenance:
Probably Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich (Lugt 2673; stamp indistinct)

References:
Bartsch, Hollstein 72
Meder 67
Schoch, Mende, Scherbaum 83

Please note this lot is the property of a private collector.

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Lot Essay

The traditional English title of this print, The Abduction of Proserpine, may not in fact describe the true subject of this print. According to the classical texts, Proserpine was abducted to the underworld on a horse carriage, and there is no reason to assume that the curly-headed nude man on the unicorn is indeed Pluto. The more descriptive German title, The Abduction on the Unicorn, may hence be preferable, although it offers little interpretation of this violent scene. The naked abductor is reminiscent of the so-called wild men, hirsute creatures of nature, which in European folklore were personifications of Death, but also of unbridled lust.