DÜRER, Albrecht
(b. 1471, Nürnberg, d. 1528, Nürnberg)

Abduction of a Woman

1495
Pen, 283 x 423 mm
Musée Bonnat, Bayonne

This copy of a (lost) engraving by Antonio Pollaiuolo shows the lunge position in front and back view. The important element for Dürer was not the mere representation of the activity, but the basic Italian method of rendering articulation of the body. Dürer allowed himself freedom in individual details. He was surely not able to borrow from his original the manner in which the modeling lines follow the form, and the contour also has become gnarled in Dürer's fashion. The rear view of the male nude recurs in the engraving "Jealousy.'