326 - Albrecht Dürer (1471 – Nuremberg – 1528), *The Knight and the Lansquenet*.

Albrecht Dürer (1471 – Nuremberg – 1528), *The Knight and the Lansquenet*. Woodcut on laid paper. (c. 1496). 39.2 x 28.1 cm (sheet). Bartsch 131; Meder 265 II b–c (of II d); Schoch/Mende/Scherbaum 106 II b–c (of II d). Provenance: Unidentified collector’s mark on the reverse (not in Lugt). A good, strong impression, with a crack running from the lower edge to the horse’s hind hoof, but with the area before the crack extending across the horse’s leg. Trimmed within the borderline. The subject of this important woodcut from Dürer’s first post-Italian period has long remained unidentified. An important clue to its interpretation is provided by an anonymous Nuremberg panel fragment from the early sixteenth century, which reproduces the composition almost identically. Although the rider and horse are depicted in a slightly different pose rather than in strict profile, the Landsknecht is copied in remarkable detail, including his costume and weaponry, and even the small galloping dog reappears. – With a tiny brown spot. A short, closed tear at the upper edge. Occasional abrasions and areas of paper thinning in the margins, all backed. A restored paper loss in the lower margin, backed and skillfully retouched into the image. The lower right corner has a backed paper loss. A short, closed tear at the lower edge, and another above the stone in the lower right. Taxation: subject to differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).