Art Institute of Chicago
The Fight over the Trousers
Israhel van Meckenem the YoungerLinkedCulture matchlcp-05aec119625d
- Date
- c. 1495
- Medium
- Engraving printed in black on ivory laid paper
- Culture
- Germany
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 3802
Here an enraged woman wielding a distaff as a weapon gains the upper hand over her husband. They are fighting over the trousers on the ground in front of them – that is, for control of the household. This scene is part of Israhel van Meckenem’s series of six prints of couples against a neutral background. It is the only one with a clear narrative and the only one in which the blank scrolls in the upper corners are replaced with imagery: the distaff, used to spin thread and emblematic of feminine pursuits, and a demon who encourages the fight. The pointed satire of domesticity in this print suggests that the other five images of couples may also be somewhat ironic.
The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.
Linked open data
Authority identifiers that link this record into the wider web of cultural data — stable references you can follow to the source.
- Object type
- AAT300041273
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Art Institute of Chicago and other institutions.