Landscape with a Large Cannon
Albrecht Dürer, German, 1471 - 1528
1518
Etching on laid paper
Sheet: 8 9/16 × 12 9/16 in. (21.7 × 31.9 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Mrs. Harvey P. Hood W'18 Fund, the Class of 1935 Memorial Fund, and the James and Barbara Block Acquisitions Endowment
2021.30
Geography
Place Made: Germany, Europe
Period
1400-1600
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Label
On a hill above a village, five caricatured Turkish men face a cannon, guarded by a German mercenary. One of the first prints to feature a landscape in European art, this etching was made by the renowned printmaker Albrecht Dürer, famous for his ambitious compositions. Printed in 1518, this print was made at a moment of growing conflict between the German-speaking states and foreign powers. The predominantly Muslim Ottoman Empire, to the east, was rapidly expanding its territory, prompting German fear of conquest. The featured cannon was already outdated by 1518, suggesting German weakness in the face of invasion. Yet, the German soldier and Ottomans only look at one another, rather than fight. For all that the Ottoman and German states were enemies, they relied on one another for trade. This print suggests the complex relationship between Christian Europe and Muslim states, marked by both war and exchange.
From the 2023 exhibition Recording War: Images of Violence 1500 – 1900, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator of Academic Programming
Course History
ARTH 28.01, The Global Renaissance, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Fall 2021
History 3.01, Europe in the Age of Wonder, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin and Walter Simons, Winter 2023
Art History 20.04, Faith and Empire, Beth Mattison, Spring 2023
Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke 1, Summer 2023
Studio Art 27.01/28.01/74.01, Printmaking I/II/III, Josh Dannin, Summer 2024
Exhibition History
Recording War: Images of Violence, 1500-1900, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, August 23-December 9, 2023.
Provenance
Junius Spencer Morgan (Princeton/Paris, Lugt 1536); private collection, United States, by descent; David Tunick, Inc., New York, New York; sold to present collection 2021.
Catalogue Raisonne
Bartsch 99; Meder 96a (of B); Schoch, Mende, Scherbaum 85; Koehler 89; Hollstein VII.87.96; Strauss 86
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