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Soldier Embracing a Woman
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this 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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineSoldier Embracing a Woman, 1505–36. Daniel Hopfer (German, c. 1470–1536). Etching; 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1971.246
