Elephant

c. 1480/1490

Martin Schongauer

Associated Names
Martin Schongauer

Artist, German, c. 1450 - 1491

This is a drawing of an elephant with a fortified tower on its back. The image depicts an elephant with exaggerated features like large curving tusks and a pronounced trunk. The elephant bears a howdah resembling a small castle tower atop its back, complete with crenellations and a figure peering out of the top. The texture of the elephant's skin is suggested with fine crosshatch lines. The drawing employs a monochromatic palette, focusing on line and shading to convey form.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 10.9 x 13.3 cm (4 5/16 x 5 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.9098

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Hollstein, no. 94, State only

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Mary Jane Morgan [d. 1885], New York (Lugt 1879); Clendenin J. Ryan, Sr. [1881-1939], New York; (his sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 17 January 1940, no. 33); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1940; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1941

  • The First Century of Printmaking 1400-1500, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1941, no. 96.

1955

  • Miniatures and Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, NGA, 1955.

1965

  • Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century German Prints from the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965.

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 87, repro.

  • Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century German Prints, from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1967.

2011

  • Prints and the Pursuit of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge; Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Evanston, 2011-2012.

Bibliography

1908

  • Lehrs, Max. Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlandischen und franzosischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert. 9 vols. and 1 plate vol. Vienna: Gesellschaft fur vervielfaltigende Kunst, 1908-1934.

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts ca. 1400-1700. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954-1868. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberge

1967

  • Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1967: no. 87.

1978

  • King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 30-31, pl. 10.

1985

  • Snyder, James E. Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350-1575. New York, 1985: 285, fig. 293.

Wikidata ID

Q65023685

You may be interested in

Loading Results