Knight, Death, and the Devil

Prints and Drawings

1513

Albrecht Dürer
German, 1471-1528

Albrecht Dürer’s masterful engraving encourages the viewer to reflect on the inevitability of their mortality. Lurking behind the knight on his muscular warhorse, the skeletal, deteriorating figure of Death sits astride his aging steed and demonstrates the running hourglass of Time. The juxtaposition of the knight and Death suggests the knight’s impending demise. Despite this Christian soldier’s battle-ready appearance, no amount of armor can protect him (and, by proxy, the rest of humanity) from death, though he shows no outward signs of fear or of temptation by the devil, who follows closely behind.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Albrecht Dürer
Title: Knight, Death, and the Devil
Place: Germany (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1513
Medium: Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions: Image/plate: 24.5 × 19 cm (9 11/16 × 7 1/2 in.); Sheet: 25.3 × 19.7 cm (10 × 7 13/16 in.)
Credit Line: Robert Alexander Waller Memorial Fund
Reference Number: 1959.538
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/11100/manifest.json

Bartsch 98

Meder 74 b/g

Strauss 71

Schoch, Mende, & Scherbaum 69

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Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.