Art Institute of Chicago

Shield with a Lion's Head, Held by a Wild Woman

Martin Schongauer

Date

1480/90

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

Germany

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Schongauer’s heraldic shield series is a study in opposites, depicting a variety of noble men and women, lusty savages, and cloistered maidens. Here appear a wild, forest-dwelling mother and child, both covered in fur. The mother’s floral wreath is almost delicate compared with the windswept concoction worn by Schongauer’s adjacent wild man (1956.917), and her child is too busy suckling to bother with a headpiece. They sit upon a craggy shelf of rock, contrasting with the grassy bench occupied by a civilized lady in another nearby Schongauer print (1944.610).

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