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Three Captives

A work made of engraving on cream laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of engraving on cream laid paper.

Date:

c. 1505

Artist:

Jacopo de’ Barbari
Italian, 1460/70-before July 1516

About this artwork

Jacopo de’ Barbari was an Italian painter and printmaker active in the courts of Saxony, in present-day Germany, during the early 16th century. Albrecht Dürer met Barbari in Venice and was reportedly fascinated by Barbari’s idiosyncratic approach to human proportions, which led to Dürer’s own treatise on the subject (published in 1528). For this engraving Barbari depicted the three bound nude male figures each in a different pose, showing either the front, side, or back. Artists often adopted this conceit in order to prove their mastery of the body in three dimensions. Here, the figures’ languid, somewhat attenuated physiques evidence the prolonged length of their captivity.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Jacopo de' Barbari

Title

Three Captives

Place

Italy (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.

1500–1510

Medium

Engraving on cream laid paper

Dimensions

16 × 10.1 cm (6 5/16 × 4 in.)

Credit Line

The Amanda S. Johnson and Marion J. Livingston Endowment

Reference Number

1995.26

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/137052/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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