The Ravisher

The Ravisher, the artist's first engraving, is firmly rooted in the 15th century Northern tradition, both in manner and subject. The irregular, nervous lines - so well suited to the violent subject - are more akin to earlier 15th-century prints, such as the drypoints of the Master of the House Book, than to the artist's later, highly controlled engraving style. The subject derives from a popular theme of the period, the Garden of Love, yet Dürer turned it into something altogether different and sinister: a young lady - married, as we can see from the cap she is wearing - has travelled to a secluded place outside the city to secretly meet with a lover. But this couple is not simply an ill-assorted couple - she finds herself having a rendezvous with Death himself, and the print is thereby a moral warning against the dangers of infidelity. The present sheet was in the renowned collections of Hans Philipp Werner, Freiherr von und zu Aufseß (antiquarian, collector and founder of the Germanisches Museum in Nuremberg); and the Graphische Sammlung in Munich.