Coat of Arms of Death,
1503
Engraving

Museum purchase
1984.20

Clarity and enigma are fused in the sober metallic gleam of Durer's great print, in which an heraldic device takes on Daliesque confrontational lethal liveliness. Is Durer conflating love and death, by showing us a crowned bride listening to the seductive talk of a fecund and usually protective wild man? Is this a dark view of the power of love and fertility, or a jab at the supposed romantic gulliblilty of women? It may even be a grim reference to the military aspirations of the daughter of a Bavarian duke who tried unsuccessfully to take power after her father's death. As Christine de Pizan said: "I could tell you a lot about brave and valiant women."