Getty Museum
Nude Woman with a Mirror
Creator
Hans von KulmbachGerman Artist · 1480–1522
All works by this person →Hans Süss von Kulmbach was the most prominent painter to emerge from Albrecht Dürer's Nuremberg workshop. They collaborated closely, but Kulmbach was never a slave to Dürer's style. Kulmbach's paintings and stained-glass designs display vivid color and a tenderness uniquely his own. Kulmbach probably arrived in Nuremberg around 1505, apprenticing first to a painter and printmaker. His liquid, lumi
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1500–1505
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink
- Culture
- German
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- 6e89bb2c-7c4b-4148-ac81-76d5eb9389bc
From the Getty Museum record
A nude woman stands in a classical *contrapposto* pose facing the viewer, with one hand pointing down and the other holding a mirror. This pose suggests that Hans Kulmbach meant to depict the allegorical figure of Vanity. Relying only on line, Kulmbach created subtle gradations of light and shadow. His fine hatching emphasizes the play of light over the woman's body. Curving strokes convey the muscular strength of her legs, the swell of her belly and rounded breasts, and the shadows on her long arms. He also used a tight pattern of cross-hatching that seems to radiate from her figure to create the appearance of a darker background. This tactic also has a three-dimensional effect, bringing her body further forward and thereby making her seem to step toward the viewer.
The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. 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.
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.