Art Institute of Chicago

The Women's Bath

Hans Sebald Beham

Date

1530/40

Medium

Woodcut in black, with touches of brush and black ink, on cream laid paper

Culture

Germany

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Sebald Beham’s woodcut homage to Albrecht Dürer’s Men’s Bath intentionally features more figures and far more nudity than the original. Its round shape suggests it was meant to be pasted onto a box. Other impressions of the Women’s Bath include a total of five decorative bands, which the user could cut off to make the design fit its support. This impression has been trimmed to the most central white border, a change that emphasizes the central narrative scene over the broader ornamental framework. The large box it adorned might have contained bathing accessories (combs, sponges, and brushes) like those depicted in this genre scene.

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