Soldier Embracing a Woman (1505–36): Art, History and Details

Soldier Embracing a Woman (1505–36) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Daniel Hopfer (German, c. 1470–1536).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In this image, a couple embraces in a garden. The man’s dress indicates that he is a German mercenary, who were chastised for loose morals in many prints of the period. The twiglike laurel wreath on his head is a mocking emblem of victory in love and war. His partner meets his gaze and guides his hands, wearing long hair, an open bodice, and a hitched-up skirt suggesting sexual availability. Resonating with Edenic and love garden images, the subject likely operated on the edge of decency for its audience.

Object facts

• Title: Soldier Embracing a Woman
• Date: 1505–36
• Creator attribution: Daniel Hopfer (German, c. 1470–1536)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching
• Dimensions: Image: 22 x 15.6 cm (8 11/16 x 6 1/8 in.); Sheet: 24.1 x 17.5 cm (9 1/2 x 6 7/8 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1971.246

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.