GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The exact subject of this puzzling image remains unclear. Albrecht Dürer simply called it "Das Meerwunder" ("The Sea Monster") in his diary. In Dürer’s mythological scene of abduction, a grotesque triton with a peculiar antler-like growth at his forehead kidnaps a princess, who wears nothing more than an elaborate diadem and pearls. On the shore, her companions and a man, presumably her father, clamor for her return. Later scholars attempted to trace the scene's narrative to classical mythology, but none of them account fully for all of the peculiarities of Dürer's print. Some have suggested that the scene reflects the Renaissance fascination with folktales or superstitions about fabulous monsters and creatures of the sea.
The Sea Monster is a striking example of the artist's early mastery of engraving. Its remarkable detail, with the elaborate Nuremberg castle and meticulously rendered foliage, illustrates Dürer's deft handling of the burin, an engraver's tool which cuts the design into the metal plate. Dürer created plasticity in the maiden's body by delicately shading her rounded contours with linear hatches and crosshatching. Created after he returned from Italy, The Sea Monster may reveal Andrea Mantegna's influence in the well-defined volumes of the maiden and her abductor. The rigorous rhythm of rippling lines in the water emphasizes the movement of figures in the foreground. Each surface is treated sumptuously, from the skin, scales, hair, and draping cloth of the figures to the billowing clouds, rugged cliffs, massive buildings, and undulating waves of the setting.
Adapted from
- Shirley Reece-Hughes, "Albrecht Dürer, The Sea Monster," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 77.
- Laura Sevelis, DMA label copy, 2015.
- Carl Wuellner, DMA Label copy, 2003.
NOTES
Added Saints and Monsters label copy to TMS as a text entry.
Changed the object name from Print to Engraving. Changed the medium from Engraving to ink on paper.
General Description:
Adapted from
- Shirley Reece-Hughes, "Albrecht Dürer, The Sea Monster," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 77.
- Laura Sevelis, DMA label copy (1971.80) for Saints and Monsters: Prints by Albrecht Dürer, March 2015
- Carl Wuellner, DMA Label copy (1971.80) for With Black Lines Only: Engravings and Woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer, December 2003
Add information to existing TMS label copy by Wuellner. The texts were written for "With Black Lines Only: Engravings and Woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer" (December 21, 2003- March 28, 2004).
Deleted the text in the exhibition history field for "With Black Lines Only" because it was duplicated by an exhibition record already entered in TMS and related to this object.
DMA Friends Activity- puzzle brochures by Danielle Shulz and Tanya Miller for the Saints and Monsters exhibition- Fall 2015
HOW TO FIND THIS?
Catalogue raisonne- Bartsch 71, Dodgson 9, Meder 83
Campbell Dodgson, Albrecht Durer, Numbered Catalogue of Engravings, Drypoints, and Etchings (Loondon 1926), cat. 30
Joseph Meder, Durer-Katalog: Ein Handbuch Uber Albrecht Durers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, Deren Zustande, Ausgaben Und Wasserzeichen (Vienna, 1932), cat. 83
Vasari described it as "a nymph being carried away by a sea monster"
Scholars attempted to trace the motif to mythological sources, but it more likely represents Durer's individual response to contemporary tales of sea monsters who abducted young women and devoured them at sea.
Added the following exhibition as to the exhibition history text field (because it was not a DMA exhibition). This exhibition was on a typescript page along with four other exhibitions and eleven Dürer object numbers. The other four exhibitions already have TMS records and are linked to the correct objects.
1982: "Depictions of the Advent in Early European Art," Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, TX, December 12, 1982- February 6, 1983
Added text entry for SRH entry in the DMA Guide to the Collections 1997, page 77.
Provenance:
n.d.: Colonel Henry Van den Bergh, London [1]
n.d.: his widow
Until 1971: Calvin J. Holmes, Dallas, TX, purchased from the above
From 1971: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, bequest from the above [2]
[1] The original registration card for this object in the DMA Collections Records Object File includes this line of provenance as the owner prior to Holmes acquiring the print for the Museum. The time period and transaction are not specified.
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location and place of origin: Nuremberg (Germany): TGN: 7004334
reclining
nude
mythology
folk tales
sea monster
turtle
antlers
horn (animal part)
hairstyle
fish scale (marine animal part)
clouds
foreground
background
castle
king
princess
elderly
man
waves
sea
ocean
ship
trees
tritons
nymph
swimming
abduction
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
Josh Rose, Saints and Monsters: Prints by Albrecht Durer, gallery talk, June 17, 2015.
248141244: UMO
Connection made by confirming exhibition in TMS and Piction ID correct.
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Inside Albrecht Dürer's Studio- Engraving~Watch this demonstration and explanation of the engraving process created by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute for the exhibition, The Strange World of Albrecht Dürer (November 14, 2010- March 13, 2011).
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1971.80
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
The exact subject of this puzzling image remains unclear. Albrecht Dürer simply called it "Das Meerwunder" ("The Sea Monster") in his diary. In Dürer’s mythological scene of abduction, a grotesque triton with a peculiar antler-like growth at his forehead kidnaps a princess, who wears nothing more than an elaborate diadem and pearls. On the shore, her companions and a man, presumably her father, clamor for her return. Later scholars attempted to trace the scene's narrative to classical mythology, but none of them account fully for all of the peculiarities of Dürer's print. Some have suggested that the scene reflects the Renaissance fascination with folktales or superstitions about fabulous monsters and creatures of the sea.
The Sea Monster is a striking example of the artist's early mastery of engraving. Its remarkable detail, with the elaborate Nuremberg castle and meticulously rendered foliage, illustrates Dürer's deft handling of the burin, an engraver's tool which cuts the design into the metal plate. Dürer created plasticity in the maiden's body by delicately shading her rounded contours with linear hatches and crosshatching. Created after he returned from Italy, The Sea Monster may reveal Andrea Mantegna's influence in the well-defined volumes of the maiden and her abductor. The rigorous rhythm of rippling lines in the water emphasizes the movement of figures in the foreground. Each surface is treated sumptuously, from the skin, scales, hair, and draping cloth of the figures to the billowing clouds, rugged cliffs, massive buildings, and undulating waves of the setting.
Adapted from
- Shirley Reece-Hughes, "Albrecht Dürer, The Sea Monster," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 77.
- Laura Sevelis, DMA label copy, 2015.
- Carl Wuellner, DMA Label copy, 2003.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Inside Albrecht Dürer's Studio- Engraving~Watch this demonstration and explanation of the engraving process created by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute for the exhibition, The Strange World of Albrecht Dürer (November 14, 2010- March 13, 2011).
Notes
Added Saints and Monsters label copy to TMS as a text entry.
Changed the object name from Print to Engraving. Changed the medium from Engraving to ink on paper.
General Description:
Adapted from
- Shirley Reece-Hughes, "Albrecht Dürer, The Sea Monster," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 77.
- Laura Sevelis, DMA label copy (1971.80) for Saints and Monsters: Prints by Albrecht Dürer, March 2015
- Carl Wuellner, DMA Label copy (1971.80) for With Black Lines Only: Engravings and Woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer, December 2003
Add information to existing TMS label copy by Wuellner. The texts were written for "With Black Lines Only: Engravings and Woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer" (December 21, 2003- March 28, 2004).
Deleted the text in the exhibition history field for "With Black Lines Only" because it was duplicated by an exhibition record already entered in TMS and related to this object.
DMA Friends Activity- puzzle brochures by Danielle Shulz and Tanya Miller for the Saints and Monsters exhibition- Fall 2015
HOW TO FIND THIS?
Catalogue raisonne- Bartsch 71, Dodgson 9, Meder 83
Campbell Dodgson, Albrecht Durer, Numbered Catalogue of Engravings, Drypoints, and Etchings (Loondon 1926), cat. 30
Joseph Meder, Durer-Katalog: Ein Handbuch Uber Albrecht Durers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, Deren Zustande, Ausgaben Und Wasserzeichen (Vienna, 1932), cat. 83
Vasari described it as "a nymph being carried away by a sea monster"
Scholars attempted to trace the motif to mythological sources, but it more likely represents Durer's individual response to contemporary tales of sea monsters who abducted young women and devoured them at sea.
Added the following exhibition as to the exhibition history text field (because it was not a DMA exhibition). This exhibition was on a typescript page along with four other exhibitions and eleven Dürer object numbers. The other four exhibitions already have TMS records and are linked to the correct objects.
1982: "Depictions of the Advent in Early European Art," Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, TX, December 12, 1982- February 6, 1983
Added text entry for SRH entry in the DMA Guide to the Collections 1997, page 77.
Provenance:
n.d.: Colonel Henry Van den Bergh, London [1]
n.d.: his widow
Until 1971: Calvin J. Holmes, Dallas, TX, purchased from the above
From 1971: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, bequest from the above [2]
[1] The original registration card for this object in the DMA Collections Records Object File includes this line of provenance as the owner prior to Holmes acquiring the print for the Museum. The time period and transaction are not specified.
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location and place of origin: Nuremberg (Germany): TGN: 7004334
reclining
nude
mythology
folk tales
sea monster
turtle
antlers
horn (animal part)
hairstyle
fish scale (marine animal part)
clouds
foreground
background
castle
king
princess
elderly
man
waves
sea
ocean
ship
trees
tritons
nymph
swimming
abduction
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
Josh Rose, Saints and Monsters: Prints by Albrecht Durer, gallery talk, June 17, 2015.
248141244: UMO
Connection made by confirming exhibition in TMS and Piction ID correct.
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
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1971.80
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