The Bewitched Groom
Artist
Hans Baldung Grien
(German, 1484/1485 - 1545)
Dateca. 1544
MediumWoodcut
DimensionsImage: 13 1/2 x 7 7/8 inches (34.29 x 20 cm)
Mat: 21 1/2 x 16 inches (54.61 x 40.64 cm)
Mat: 21 1/2 x 16 inches (54.61 x 40.64 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number33-1625
Signed(bl.,l.r.):"HB" (on tablet)
On View
Not on viewCollections
Gallery LabelHans Baldung Grien’s enigmatic image rejects the Renaissance ideals of beauty and harmony held by his teacher Albrecht Dürer. In a complete reversal of Dürer’s idealized equine companion, Baldung Grien’s creature is an angry beast who has just knocked down his groom. The groom lies on the floor, either unconscious or dead with the tools of his trade scattered around him. The elderly woman brandishing a torch presumably bears the responsibility for the horse’s violent response.
Wagner, Peter. Erotica and the Enlightenment. Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang, 1990, p. 327.
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