The Abduction of Proserpine (B. 72; M., Holl. 67; S.M.S. 83)

Details

Albrecht Dürer
The Abduction of Proserpine (B. 72; M., Holl. 67; S.M.S. 83)
etching, 1516, on thin laid paper with a Cross in Oval watermark (M. 156), a good, strong Meder c impression with the rustmarks, trimmed on or just inside the platemark but retaining a fillet of blank paper outside the borderline, some minor foxing, a tiny paper split at Proserpine's left foot, otherwise in good condition; with The Desperate Man (B. 70; M., Holl. 95; S.M.S. 79) etching by the same hand, 1515, watermark Schrobenhausen Coat-of-Arms (M. 195), in good condition
P., S. 308 x 214 mm.

Provenance

U. Aldrovandi, 1598 (according to a inscription in brown ink at the lower sheet edge; not in Lugt)

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605) was born in Bologna into a noble family, his cousin became Pope Gregory VIII. He studied at Bologna and Padua and became the first professor of Natural History at Bologna University. He was one of the founders of the Botanical Garden in Bologna, established one of the most celebrated curiosity cabinets of his time, containing over 18,000 specimen, and is considered one of the fathers of Natural History as a science. It is easy to see why he, a humanist as well as a naturalist with a taste for the curious and bizarre - he was particularly interested in dragons - was drawn to Dürer's depiction of this classic story, Proserpine being carried off on a unicorn.

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