The abduction on a unicorn

Albrecht Dürer
Germany
1471 – 1528

The abduction on a unicorn
1516
etching on paper
Place made
Nuremberg, Germany
Medium
etching on paper
Dimensions
30.9 x 21.3 cm (plate & sheet)
Credit line
South Australian Government Grant 1971
Accession number
717G35
Signature and date
Signed and dated in plate, u.r. "1516/ AD" the initials in monogram.
Catalogue raisonne
B.72; M.67 (before rust marks); Holl/G 67(a); S.E.84; TIB v.10, p.160, .072 (S1)
Media category
Print
Collection area
European prints

  • WALL LABEL: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, 2020

    The subject of this etching is unclear, although for many years it has been thought to represent the abduction of Proserpine by Pluto, the Greek god of the underworld (Hades). While the myth traditionally includes a horse-drawn chariot, here Pluto’s steed is a unicorn, depicted as a crazed beast. Unicorns were usually associated with purity and chastity; however, in some medieval sources the unicorn was associated with evil and death.  

     

    Julie Robinson, Senior Curator, Prints, Drawings & Photographs

     

  • The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 29 February 2020 – 16 August 2020

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  • Durer and German Renaissance Printmaking, 1996-1997

    Cairns Art Gallery, 28 March 1996 – 11 May 1997
    Art Gallery of South Australia, 6 December 1996 – 23 February 1997
    Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, 20 June 1997 – 3 August 1997
    Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, 13 August 1997 – 28 September 1997
    Newcastle Art Gallery, 18 October 1997 – 30 November 1997
    Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu, 17 March 1999 – 16 May 1999