Shields with Rabbit and Moor's Head, Held by Wild Man

c. 1480/1490

Martin Schongauer

Associated Names
Martin Schongauer

Artist, German, c. 1450 - 1491

This is a circular print depicting a man standing between two shield-shaped objects, one decorated with a rabbit and the other with a person's head. The man in the center is covered in short, wavy fur. Only his face and feet are bare. He has a curly beard and curly hair adorned with a crown of leafy twigs. His arms are stretched out to either side, where he holds the edges of the two shields, which appear to be balanced on rocky ledges. The left shield depicts a rabbit in mid-leap, facing the right. The other side shows a person in profile, facing the left. They are wearing a high-necked garment and have short, curly hair tied up with a cloth. The scene is enclosed within a circular border.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed within plate mark): 7.7 x 7.9 cm (3 1/16 x 3 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.87

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Hollstein, no. 104, State only

  • Series Title

    Series of Coats of Arms [Lehrs 95-104]

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

William Esdaile [1758-1837], London (Lugt 2617); Robert Balmanno [1780-1866], London (Lugt 213); The British Museum, London (duplicate, Lugt 305); (Knoedler and Co., New York); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1929; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1930

  • Etchings by Martin Schongauer from the Lessing Rosenwald Collection, The Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA, 1930.

1953

  • Nuremberg and the German World, 1460-1530: Prints and books from the Kress and Rosenwald Collections, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953, no catalogue.

1955

  • Miniatures and Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1955, no catalogue.

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 95, repro.

1997

  • Six Centuries/Six Artists, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1997.

Bibliography

1908

  • Lehrs, Max. Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlandischen und franzosischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert. 9 vols. and 1 plate vol. Vienna: Gesellschaft fur vervielfaltigende Kunst, 1908-1934.

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts ca. 1400-1700. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954-1868. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberge

1967

  • Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1967: no. 95.

1994

  • Bartra, Roger. Wild Men in the Looking Glass: The Mythic Origins of European Otherness, Ann Arbor, MI, 1994: fig. 85.

Wikidata ID

Q64960306

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