Female Nude Seen from Behind

Albrecht Dürer

early 17th century · Honestone · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The early sixteenth century marked the height of the “Dürer Renaissance,” during which the artistic master’s initials were so famous that their duplication by other artists was recognized as a crime. Though this relief follows a composition by Dürer and is marked with his monogram, it was made after his death and falsely monogrammed and backdated, perhaps to satisfy the demand of the affluent collectors who competed to acquire his works. Indeed, this relief may be identical to a “female nude cut in stone by AD” in the 1607–11 inventory of Emperor Rudolf II’s Kunstkammer in Prague.

Artist

Albrecht Dürer

Date

early 17th century

Medium

Honestone

Culture

German

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917