The Miss on Horse and the Landsknecht

Unknown artist

Decades after Dürer’s death, a member of the Flemish artist family Wierix Dürer copied the engraving “Das Fräulein zu Jahrzehund der Landsknecht” from the original page around 1497. In doing so, he clearly oriented himself towards the template. In the course of the burgeoning medieval love still in the 19th century, often interpreted as a noble lady with her scarlet, clothing, facial expressions and gestures point to a happening from the soldier’s life (cf. Schoch I.60.16). The viewer lives with a farewell scene. The young man stands next to a woman on horseback in tight leg clothes, slotted woes and hellebarde. She has pointed her eyes at him and puts his hand on his shoulder. The fact that he gently touches her forearm gives the representation an intimate atmosphere. There is disagreement about the number of discounted conditions. Referring to a mention in Bartsch’s “Le peintre graveur,” which cannot be traced (see Bartsch VII.95.82), Mauquoy-Hendrickx explains six record states (see Mauquoy-Hendrickx II.312.1709), while Strauss explains only two (see TIB X commentar.1001,082 C3). The characteristic age indication of the Wierix, here Æ12, was probably initially in the middle, but was later replaced by the Dürer monogram. There are deductions they show at the bottom left. Already Heller points out that there are also deductions with the address of the Amsterdam publisher Claes Jansz. Visscher (cf. Heller Dürer 1827 II.499,993).