Knight, Death and the Devil

1513

German, Nuremberg 1471-1528

A knight stares straight ahead, impervious to the gloomy, threatening landscape through which his horse purposefully strides. The ghoulish figure of Death awaits, and the knight has already passed a fantastic hybrid creature that has been interpreted as the Devil. Dürer may have developed the image from ideas published in the Handbook of the Christian Soldier by the Dutch humanist Erasmus, who advised his Christian knight, 'Look not behind thee.'

The splendid horse is the result of Dürer's studies of ideal proportion. A commanding combination of earthly detail and smoldering inner spirituality, this unforgettable image is a milestone in printmaking and in art.

Engraving

9 9/16 x 7 3/8 in. (24.3 x 18.7 cm)

Gift of Mrs. Leo Wallerstein

64.52

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Durer, Rembrandt, and Goya: Old Masters Prints from the Seattle Art Museum Collection, May 31, 2001 - Jan. 1, 2002.

Published References"Selected Works." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, p. 89

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