Little Fortune

c. 1496

Albrecht Dürer

Associated Names
Albrecht Dürer

Artist, German, 1471 - 1528

The etching features a person standing on their right foot on top of a spherical object. The person is positioned with their back to the viewer, head turned to look over the left shoulder. They have finely defined facial features, long wavy hair, and are mostly nude with draped fabric around the waist and shoulder. The person holds a staff in their left hand with a cluster of flowers at the top. The background is plain.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 12.3 × 6.5 cm (4 13/16 × 2 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.3461

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Meder, no. 71

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (Lugt 1934 and Lugt 1982); (sale, Hollstein & Puppel, Berlin, May 6-8, 1929, no. 248); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1760b and Lugt 1932d), 1929; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1929

  • Engravings by Albrecht Durer from the collection of Lessing J. Rosenwald of Philadelphia, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1929, no. 31.

1971

  • Albrecht Dürer: The Early Graphic Works, Princeton University Art Museum, NJ, 1971, no. 3, repro.

1990

  • Eva/Ave: Woman in Renaissance and Baroque Prints, NGA, 1990, no. 138, repro.

1997

  • Love and War: A Manual for Life in the Late Middle Ages, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998-1999.

2000

  • Fortune: "All is But Fortune", The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., 2000, no. 50.

Bibliography

1932

  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

1990

  • Russell 1990, cat.no.138.

2001

  • Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 1: no. 5.

Inscriptions

in plate, bottom center: AD [artist's monogram]; verso, lower right, in graphite by a later hand: B78; verso, lower left, in graphite by a later hand: 28 [upside down]; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: L4 [?]; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: H.831; verso, lower right, in graphite by a later hand: (78) [?]; verso, lower right, in graphite by a later hand: 69; verso, bottom right, in graphite by a later hand: 248

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q18338500

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