Sol Iustitiae ("Sun of Righteousness")

c. 1499/1500

Albrecht Dürer

Associated Names
Albrecht Dürer

Artist, German, 1471 - 1528

This print shows a person seated on a lion. The person's body is turned towards us, their head facing the bottom right. They are holding a sword upright in their right hand and a set of scales in their left hand. The person is wearing flowing fabric that drapes over their shoulders and arms and goes down to their bent knees. They have wide round eyes, short curly hair, and slightly downturned lips. Around their eyes and forehead, is a mask-like covering shaped like a maple leaf, extending upwards and out to either side. Their head is surrounded by rays of light shooting outward and forming a halo. The lion the person sits on is standing, positioned horizontally, its head on the left and its tail on the right. It has a long, wavy mane, furrowed brows, and a partially open mouth. The background is blank beige paper.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to plate): 10.6 × 7.6 cm (4 3/16 × 3 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.3484

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Meder, no. 73

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Alfred Morrison [1821-1897], London and Fonthill (Lugt 151); possibly owned by Brayton Ives [1840-1914]; (M Knoedler and Co., NY); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1760b and Lugt 1932d), 1930; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1932

  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

2001

  • Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 1: no. 23.

Inscriptions

in plate, bottom center: AD [artist's monogram]; verso, lower right, in graphite by a later hand: Coll [?] [erased]; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: Brayton Ives [collector]; verso, lower right, in graphite by a later hand: 41; verso, lower left, in graphite by a later hand: B79; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: 7; verso, lower left, in graphite by a later hand: NR [?] 27254

Markings

in graphite, on verso: Brayton Ives Coll[?]

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q18338511

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