The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Mercenaries and a Woman with Death in a Tree

Mercenaries and a Woman with Death in a Tree

1524
(Swiss, c. 1485–1527/29)
Switzerland
woodcut
Image: 20.2 x 11.7 cm (7 15/16 x 4 5/8 in.); Sheet: 20.2 x 11.7 cm (7 15/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1942.118
Catalogue raisonné: Hollstein 28
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Urs Graf was a Swiss professional soldier, or mercenary, who made many images of soldiers and camp followers, such as the woman featured here.

Description

Two Swiss mercenaries and a woman meet outside a city at a prominent tree. The woman’s immodest dress, glance, and proximity to a money bag imply that she is sexually available, as does the soldier’s suggestively placed sword. Death makes an appearance as a skeleton, conjoining sin with death (for it was believed that overindulgence in carnal love led to peril). The Swiss Confederacy during the 1500s was a culture of mercenary warfare. Women traveled with regiments of soldiers, earning meager wages as servants, cooks, or sex workers. Urs Graf, a soldier himself, made many images
ridiculing the situation.
  • Love Gardens / Forbidden Fruit. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 2-October 29, 2023).
    Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003).
    Images of War. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1991-January 12, 1992).
    Albrecht Dürer and His Influence. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 16-March 10, 1991).
  • {{cite web|title=Mercenaries and a Woman with Death in a Tree|url=false|author=Urs Graf the Elder|year=1524|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.118