Shield with a Lion's Head, Held by a Wild Woman

1480·Engraving in black on ivory laid paper·7.8 × 7.8 cm (3 1/8 × 3 1/8 in.)

<p>Schongauer’s heraldic shield series is a study in opposites, depicting a variety of noble men and women, lusty savages, and cloistered maidens. Here appear a wild, forest-dwelling mother and child, both covered in fur. The mother’s floral wreath is almost delicate compared with the windswept concoction worn by Schongauer’s adjacent wild man (1956.917), and her child is too busy suckling to bother with a headpiece. They sit upon a craggy shelf of rock, contrasting with the grassy bench occupied by a civilized lady in another nearby Schongauer print (1944.610).</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1480
Medium: Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions: 7.8 × 7.8 cm (3 1/8 × 3 1/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Martin Schongauer

Artist

Martin Schongauer

Painting

Martin Schongauer, also known as Martin Schön or Hübsch Martin by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter. He was the most important printmaker north of the Alps before Albrecht Dürer, a younger artist who collected his work. Schongauer is the first German painter to be a significant engraver, although he seems to have had the family background and training in goldsmithing which was usual for early engravers.

Colmar, France

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