polity holy roman empireconcept:era early modern

Knight, Death and the Devil

Name: Provenio Provenance Knowledge Graph
License: https://provenio.art/terms

Engraving (1513) by Albrecht Dürer, depicting an armored knight riding through a gorge accompanied by personifications of Death and the Devil. One of the three Meisterstiche (master engravings). Multiple impressions, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Scholarly Significance

First of the three Meisterstiche; among the most influential prints in Western art history.

Notes

·Dürer's own note refers to it simply as 'Der Reutter' (The Rider); the title 'Knight, Death and the Devil' appears later.
·The knight has been interpreted as Erasmus's 'Christian Soldier' from Enchiridion militis Christiani (1503).
·Death (a crowned corpse on horseback) holds an hourglass; the Devil (a goat-like monster) follows.
·The faithful hound at the horse's feet traditionally symbolizes loyalty.
·Dürer signed and dated the engraving 'S' (for Schild, shield) 1513 on a placard in the lower left.
·One of the three Meisterstiche alongside Saint Jerome in His Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514).