313 - Albrecht Dürer (1471 – Nuremberg – 1528), Coat of Arms with a Skull.

Albrecht Dürer (1471 – Nuremberg – 1528), Coat of Arms with a Skull. Engraving on laid paper, Bull’s Head watermark (Meder 62). (1503). 22.7 x 16.4 cm (sheet). Bartsch 101; Meder 98 I a (of II d); Schoch/Mende/Scherbaum 37 I b (of II d). Provenance: Alfred Morrison (1821–1897), London and Fonthill, with his collector’s stamp on the reverse (Lugt 151); Pierre Mariette (1634–1716), Paris, with his handwritten collector’s mark in brown ink, dated “1668” on the reverse (Lugt 1789). A very fine, strong impression of Meder I b, printed with rich contrasts and great clarity, with traces of burr in the scrollwork and elsewhere. With a strip of blank paper outside the borderline. “The Coat of Arms with a Skull” is one of Dürer’s finest and most accomplished engravings, remarkable for its decorative richness, compositional complexity, and technical brilliance. It depicts a young Nuremberg patrician woman in festive dress, wearing a bridal wreath, approached by a wild man with shaggy hair who appears momentarily to have forgotten his role as a heraldic shield-bearer. Holding firmly onto the strap of the magnificent tournament helmet, she tolerates his advances, while her gaze rests upon her suitor’s coat of arms. Its reverse side, however, bearing the skull and bones, remains hidden from her. Combining several traditional themes—the unequal couple, Death and the Maiden, and the vanity of worldly rank and status—Dürer transforms the heraldic subject into a powerful “memento mori.” – The paper is evenly discolored by age, with a brown spot on the coat of arms and another at the hem of the woman’s dress. The blank areas surrounding the figures have been retouched along the outer edges. A backed paper loss at the lower right edge, with associated pen-and-ink additions; two further backed losses at the lower left edge, partially retouched in black ink. The lower right corner and some of the tips of the feathers have been retouched with pen and black ink. There is a closed tear in the woman’s dress. Further small repairs and retouched areas along the border. Taxation: subject to standard taxation (VAT: Regular Taxation).