The Siege of a Fortress

Details

ALBRECHT DÜRER (1471-1528)

The Siege of a Fortress
woodcut printed from two blocks, 1527, on two sheets of laid paper, watermark Large Eagle with two Fishes, good but later impressions, Meder g, published in Arnhem, 1603, with some gaps and worm holes filled in with pen and ink, the two sheets joined at centre, with thread margins, the left sheet slightly toned, a small made-up paper loss at the lower sheet edge at right, otherwise in good condition, framed
Blocks 226 x 725 mm., Sheet 228 x 727 mm. (together)

Provenance

With August Laube, Zürich.
Acquired from the above by the present owner.

Literature

Bartsch 137; Meder, Hollstein 272; Schoch, Mende, Scherbaum 260

Lot Essay

One of Dürer's last printed works before his death in April 1528, The Siege of a Fortress is presumed to have been created to accompany his treatise on fortification, published in Nuremberg in 1527. Although this large woodcut was not bound into the treatise, it illustrates a scenario described within, of a siege upon a heavily defended town within a fortress, with a wide moat and reinforced stone walls. The print demonstrates that the fortified town under siege will be more able to withstand or overcome the oncoming attack which has left the towns in the distance ablaze.

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