The Ill-Assorted Couple
<p>The intersection of commerce with the seamy side of love inspired this secular Dürer engraving. The title refers to the difference in age between two would-be lovers, here seated outside in an intentionally isolated spot. In this popular Renaissance genre, lascivious elderly men attempt to grope beautiful courtesans who hold out for a second purse or steal the rest of their conquest’s belongings. Alternately, toothless crones stroke young men who hope to inherit everything on becoming widowers. Love is on offer to the highest bidder in a mercenary transaction that is anything but courtly.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1491
- Dimensions
- Image/plate: 14.9 × 13.8 cm (5 7/8 × 5 7/16 in.); Sheet: 15 × 13.9 cm (5 15/16 × 5 1/2 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Albrecht Dürer
Artist
Painting
Albrecht Dürer, sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance. Born in Nuremberg, Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints. He was in contact with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, and from 1512 was patronized by Emperor Maximilian I.
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More by Albrecht Dürer
Coat of Arms of Wilhelm and Wolfgang Rogendorf
1864 · Lithograph in black on ivory wove paper
Copies After details in Various Durer Prints
1800 · Pen and brown ink, with touches of black chalk, on cream laid paper
The Annunciation, from The Life of the Virgin
1590 · Woodcut in black on ivory laid paper
Dead Blue Roller
1583 · watercolor and gouache with touches of gold
Madonna on a Grassy Bank
1566 · Engraving on ivory laid paper
The Abduction of Proserpine on a Unicorn
1540 · Etching in black on ivory laid paper
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Albrecht Dürer
- Year
- 1491
- Dimensions
- Image/plate: 14.9 × 13.8 cm (5 7/8 × 5 7/16 in.); Sheet: 15 × 13.9 cm (5 15/16 × 5 1/2 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1491-044825
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified