Foot Combat with Daggers

c.1512-1515

German 16th Century

Associated Names
German 16th Century

Artist

This is a painting of two skeletons in armor engaged in a combat-like interaction. The artwork features two skeletal figures, each clad in stylized armor. They face each other, locked in a dance or duel. The figure on the left wields a short sword in one hand. The scene is rendered in hues of blue and brown, giving it an antique feel. The background is a neutral off-white. The skeletal theme, paired with period-style garments, conveys historical intrigue and macabre humor. This is in style of Hieronymus Bosch.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and black ink with watercolor over black chalk on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 33.6 × 26.2 cm (13 1/4 × 10 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.4582

  • Series Title

    Freydal, The Book of Jousts and Tournament of Emperor Maximilian I: Combats on Foot (Volume III)

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Frédéric de Pourtalès (1779-1861), Paris; E.P. Goldschmidt (1887-1954), London, c.1914-1918. (Charles Sessler Rare Books, Philadelphia). Purchased 1930 by Lessing J. Rosenwald (L. Supp. 1760b); Gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1926

  • Dodgson, Campbell. "An Unknown MS. of Freydal."The Burlington Magazine. 48 (1926): 235-237+240-242.

1928

  • Dodgson, Campbell. "More Freydal Drawings." The Burlington Magazine. 53 (October 1928): 170-73.

2019

  • Krause, Stefan. "Freydal, das Turnierbuch Kaiser Maximilians I. - Werkbeschreibungen." Jahrbuch des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien 21 (2019): 296, repro. 297.

Inscriptions

upper left by unknown hand in graphite: [49?]; center by unknown hand in graphite: 7; lower left on mount in black ink: 55; lower right on mount in black ink: A 186

Watermarks

Anchor

Wikidata ID

Q64571988

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