Nemesis
Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), Nemesis, engraving, 1502.
References: Bartsch 77, Meder 72 IIa (of f). In excellent condition. Watermark: High Crown (Meder watermark 20). 330 x 230 mm.
Very fine, with the exquisite detailing characteristic of only the earliest of the Meder IIa impressions.
Provenance:
private collection, Germany
Christie’s London June 24, 1986, lot 21
private collection USA
Panofsky identified the literary source for Nemesis as “a Latin poem of Politian which synthesizes the classical goddess of retribution with fickle Fortune: clad in a white mantle, she hovers in the void, tearing the air with strident wings, driven hither and thither by the gales, and always wielding the goblet and the bridle – symbols of favor and castigation – with a contemptuous smile.” The landscape has been identified as the Tyrolese town of Chiuso.
On reserve.