Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Cannon
Albrecht DürerLinkedCulture matchlcp-840f7214ff34
- Date
- 1518
- Medium
- Etching on iron
- Department
- European Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 7359
From LinkedCulture
In 1518, Albrecht Dürer etched a cannon scene onto iron, one of only six times he ever used that medium, and quietly gave his own face to the Turkish soldier standing at the right. A massive cannon rests on a wheeled carriage, a thatched ammunition wagon beside it, while a sweeping German landscape of village rooftops and distant mountains stretches behind the figures. Dürer found the iron's coarse lines frustrating, yet that very looseness freed him to render the gnarled tree and open countryside with a naturalism that directly inspired the landscape printmakers of the Danube School.
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From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
The toolbox on this cannon bears the arms of Nuremberg, Albrecht Dürer's birthplace and home to several of Emperor Maximilian's arms foundries. What's more, the Turk at right is believed to bear the face of Dürer himself. The artist made just six etchings on iron, probably abandoning the medium because he was dissatisfied with the coarse, crumbly lines that resulted. Although he preferred the more controlled vocabulary of engraving, Dürer exploited the freedom of the etching needle in the muscular tree and distant landscape, creating naturalistic effects that would have a lasting impact on the artists of the Danube School, who made prints focused solely on nature. Germany, Europe
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- The William M. Ladd Collection Gift of Herschel V. Jones, 1916
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