The market farmer and his wife

Unknown artist

Decades after Dürer’s death, the artist copied his engraving “Der Marktbauer und sein Weib” from the original page, made in 1519. In doing so, he clearly oriented himself towards the template and shows a peasant woman and a farmer standing in front of a wall. While the man has taken his hat off and stuck it under his arm, he seems to interpret it with his free hand in many ways. Those standing next to him listen attentively, are packed with market goods, even at their feet there is a basket of eggs and a jug. The peasant couple almost completely fills the picture. Dating and monogram are reminiscent of Dürer as the spiritual creator of the image idea. Below the illustration is also the abbreviation “GR,” the characteristic age indication for the Wierix brothers, here “Æ 12,” and the year “1566” integrated. Mauquoy-Hendrickx, who does not list the second condition already mentioned by Bartsch (cf. Bartsch VII.99.89) and Nagler (cf. Nagler Monogrammisten III.92.305), presumes behind the initials, the Italian form of the name abbreviation of Hieronymus Wierix (cf. Mauquoy-Hendrickx II.311,1705bis).