The Lady Riding and the Landsknecht (c. 1497): Art, History and Details

The Lady Riding and the Landsknecht (c. 1497) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528).

The work and its context

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

At first the subject of this early print appears to be simple courtly love; in it a noblewoman and infantryman share a private moment of farewell. However, a deeper reading of the image suggests underlying themes related to the power of women. Although the young man’s stance and weaponry establish his masculinity, the woman’s higher social status and physical position on horseback allude to her authority over him. Further, the hat she wears belongs to her lover’s costume, not to contemporary women’s fashion. Her appropriation of his clothing combined with his delicate touch and forlorn gaze creates an instance of role reversal, indicating that she holds the power in this romantic situation.

Object facts

• Title: The Lady Riding and the Landsknecht
• Date: c. 1497
• Creator attribution: Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)
• Culture: Germany, late 15th-early 16th Century
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1934.343

Collection credit

Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.

Further reading listed by the museum

• Francis, Henry. "Engravings by Albrect Dürer." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 22, no. 4 (April 1935): 59-64.

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.