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Hoffmann's squirrel nibbling at a hazelnut is thought by various researchers to derive from a lost work of Dürer's in which the squirrel at the front was joined by a second one in a 'profil perdu.' It is possible that the artist saw the original study by arrangement with the Nuremberg Imhoff family, who owned numerous works by Dürer and were eager to lend them to him for his studies. In contrast to his study of a hare in imitation of Dürer, Hoffmann identified the sheet with his own monogram and the date. The technical perfection and fidelity with which the study is carried out are hallmarks of the Mannerist style. Hoffmann made use of copies of Dürer's Lions in his depiction of the fur.
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