Albrecht Durer - print report



Albrecht Durer 1471-1528
The top picture is called the Rhinocerous and it is a woodcut he made in 1515.
He created this image from a written description and a sketch - he had not seen a rhino before in real life. It looks like a rhino on first glance, but if you look closer you see the scales on the leg and the extra horn. He had been told it was an armoured animal and he drew armour which had similarities to men's armour with the etchings that can be found on men's armour. The end result is a real fantasy piece which looks like a rhino! This picture is appealing to me also as it is not religious.

The second picture is called the Cannon and it is an etching made in 1518. Although it does have a cannon in the foreground I see this primarily as a landscape with masses of details and depth expressed by black and white marks. I particularly like the stripey sky and the tree trunk.

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