Die wunderbare Sau von Landser (The Monstrous Sow of Landser)
Albrecht Dürer, Die wunderbare Sau von Landser (The Monstrous Sow of Landser), ca. 1496, engraving on beige antique laid paper, The Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen Art Collection, public domain, 2007.59.2
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Die wunderbare Sau von Landser (The Monstrous Sow of Landser)
- Related Titles
original language: Die wunderbare Sau von Landser
translated: The Monstrous Sow of Landser
- Artist
- Date
ca. 1496
- Medium
engraving on beige antique laid paper
- Catalogue Raisonné
Meder 82 a (of h)
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
plate/sheet: 4 3/4 in x 5 in
- Inscriptions & Markings
signature: AD [entwined], printed, lower center in image
- Collection Area
Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
- Object Type
intaglio print
- Culture
German
- Credit Line
The Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen Art Collection
- Accession Number
2007.59.2
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
Created when the artist was only twenty-five years old, this print depicts an infamous news story of the day. On March 1, 1496, a strange sow (female pig) was born in the Austrian province of Sundgau. The pig was described to have "one head, four ears, two bodies, eight feet on six of which it stood, and two tongues." While Dürer never saw the piglet, as it died shortly after birth, he learned of its existence from contemporary accounts.
Unusual natural occurrences, such as the birth of the monstrous sow, were at the time believed to be a sign of significant, even apocalyptic, events. Rather than focusing on the religious or negative associations with the birth, Dürer attempted to depict a naturalistic image of the bizarre creature.
- Exhibitions
2008 Celebrating Prints: Recent Acquisitions Portland Art Museum
2017 Kingdom Animalia: Animals in Print from Dürer to Picasso Portland Art Museum
