The Horseman (Knight, Death and Devil)

Several decades after Dürer’s death, Flemish artist Johan Wierix copied the 1513 copper engraving “Der Reiter (Knight, Death and Devil)” from the opposite side at the age of 15. Despite the sideways traffic, the orientation towards the template can be clearly seen. Even in the copy, the equipped rider and his horse fill the leaf almost completely in parallel. A lance placed over his shoulder, he purposefully paves the way through a gloomy and rocky landscape, populated by bare plants and fauna. Behind the main figure, a view of a castle complex opens, which rises in the background on a mountain. A dog walking next to the rider is anxiously attaching his ears to the weather. Probably the animal notices the presence of the dark figures. Right next to him, the death rides around his neck on a rattling horse with a goblet and presents the hourglass. The devil, represented as a mixture, is also integrated into the representation. While there is no evidence of Dürer as the spiritual creator of the image idea, the actual year of origin “1564” is on the monogram paneled. Mauquoy-Hendrickx lists a total of five states: with the year “1564,” with the age indication “Æ • 15,” with the address of the Amsterdam publisher Claes Jansz. Visscher, Clement de Jonghe and Danker Danckerts (see Mauquoy-Hendrickx II.269.1484). From the Wierix’s copy after Dürer’s “Der Reiter” there is a copy (cf. Ausst.-Kat. 2004, Cat. No. 105) that Heller listed as a copy after Dürer’s original (cf. Heller Dürer 1827 II.505,1014).