Lot Essay
The largest engraving that Drer produced, this work bears witness to a rigorous study of natural forms and their surfaces. The overwhelming tapestry of detail rendered in a richness of tones to rival the density of brushwork, is testimony to the artist furthering his efforts to deny the linearity of the medium. It is interesting that the only extant study for the complete composition is not in pen but is painted.
In the early years of the 16th century the artist was becoming increasingly concerned with the study of proportion. As in a scientific handbook, the horse, stag and most of the dogs are presented formally, strictly in profile.
The story is that of the Roman soldier Placidas who, while hunting, encountered a stag with a cross and the image of Christ between its antlers. Upon hearing God's voice spoken by the animal, 'O Placidas, why pursuest thou me?', he fell on his knees and became a Christian. Drer's interpretation of the scene probably derives from a woodcut of the same subject illustrated in Anton Koberger's Lives of the Saints, published in 1488.
Vasari described this print as 'amazing, and particularly for the beauty of some dogs in various attitudes, which could not be more perfect'.
In the early years of the 16th century the artist was becoming increasingly concerned with the study of proportion. As in a scientific handbook, the horse, stag and most of the dogs are presented formally, strictly in profile.
The story is that of the Roman soldier Placidas who, while hunting, encountered a stag with a cross and the image of Christ between its antlers. Upon hearing God's voice spoken by the animal, 'O Placidas, why pursuest thou me?', he fell on his knees and became a Christian. Drer's interpretation of the scene probably derives from a woodcut of the same subject illustrated in Anton Koberger's Lives of the Saints, published in 1488.
Vasari described this print as 'amazing, and particularly for the beauty of some dogs in various attitudes, which could not be more perfect'.