Man is born naked, plate #1 from The Misery of Human Life

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Man is born naked, plate #1 from The Misery of Human Life

Philips Galle; after Maarten van HeemskerckLinkedCulture matchlcp-25012230600d

Date
1563
Medium
Etching with censoring in selective watercolor [?]
Department
European Art
Institution
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Object ID
140094

From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record

A five-breasted naked woman labeled Natura hands a naked baby to a woman in a long dress with her right breast exposed. Paint has been applied these two figures to cover exposed parts of their bodies. To the right is another woman who carries a swaddled baby. In the background are many animals on land, sea, and air. Especially prominent are to boars, a salamander, a hedgehog, a turtle, a bear, and a chicken. This is the first print in a series of six that studies the misery of human life. The images were designed by Maarten van Heemskerck and engraved by Philips Galle. Each is accompanied by Latin verses by the learned Dutch polymath Hadrianus Junius (1511-1575), with further verses in French and Dutch below. Some of the verses below may be roughly translated as follows: Birds, fish, trees, and all animals, Are all provided and clothed by Nature. Man alone is left completely naked, and suffers a thousand travails. Flanders, Europe

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Credit line
Gift of James A. Bergquist, Boston, in honor of Rachel McGarry

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