''The Sea Monster'' (German: ''Das Meerwunder'') is a c. 1498–1500 copper

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

by the German Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer. It shows a voluptuous naked woman riding on the back of a

merman Mermen, the male counterparts of the mythical female mermaids, are legendary creatures, which are male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other ...

, a male creature who is half-man, half-fish. The man wears a beard and antlers, while his lower body is covered in scales.Jonathan, Jones.
Divine inspiration
. ''The Guardian'', 30 November 2002. Retrieved 2 July 2010. The woman has seemingly been snatched and dragged away from the river bank; her companions are shown scrambling out of the water in panic, raising their arms in protest or lying down weeping. The woman wears an extravagant

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

ese headdressCampbell Hutchison, 35 and her mouth is open in a cry as she looks back at her friends in the distance.Nürnberg, 36 Despite the woman's gaze back at the bank and her open mouth, her relaxed

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

like pose suggests to some critics that she is not overly concerned with her plight. For this reason writer Jonathan Jones described the engraving as a "troubling, wondrous image of the erotic", while historian Walter L. Strauss notes that her abduction may be a device to legitimise her nudity. A fortress is set on the rock high above the river; elements of its structure echo the Kaiserburg in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

This engraving is one of Dürer's early attempts at anatomy and proportion, completed before he was able to arrive at what he saw as the canon of human beauty in his 1504 ''

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

''. The image can be approximately dated due to a similar nude study held in the

Albertina The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...

in Vienna which Dürer signed and dated 1501. A well regarded Mannerist copy was completed c. 1550 in Germany, which shows the scene in mirror image. The copy is signed ''IoHann Von Essen''. It is not known which specific classical or contemporary tale Dürer sought to illustrate; he is known to have synthesised different sources and bring motifs together in a single image. The abduction of a woman by a water-god is one of the oldest Greek mythological conceptions and a subject that fascinated men through to the Renaissance. Dürer adds a layer of complexity to the scene in that the woman does not seem too upset at her fate.

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

gave an early description of the work, through a vague description of a picture of a

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label= Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...

set in the ancient world. Recent interpretations mention the abduction of Scylla by the sea demon

Glaucus In Greek mythology, Glaucus (; grc, Γλαῦκος, Glaûkos, glimmering) was a Greek prophetic sea-god, born mortal and turned immortal upon eating a magical herb. It was believed that he came to the rescue of sailors and fishermen in storms ...

, or the abduction of

Hesione In Greek mythology and later art, the name Hesione ( /hɪˈsaɪ.əniː/; Ancient Greek: Ἡσιόνη) refers to various mythological figures, of whom the Trojan princess Hesione is most known. Mythology According to the '' Bibliotheca'', the ...

by a monster. Further speculation centres on Anna Perenna, who escapes from Aeneas with the aid of a horned water-god. Art historian Jane Campbell Hutchison suggests that the Milanese headdress may refer to the Lombard queen

Theodelinda Theodelinda also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ( 570–628 AD), was a queen of the Lombards by marriage to two consecutive Lombard rulers, Autari and then Agilulf, and regent of Lombardia during the minority of her son Adaloald, and co-regent when he ...

, who was also abducted by a sea monster. The horned Tritonesque figure echoes a description given by

Poggio Bracciolini Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (11 February 1380 – 30 October 1459), usually referred to simply as Poggio Bracciolini, was an Italian scholar and an early Renaissance humanist. He was responsible for rediscovering and recovering many classi ...

of a sea monster that had terrorised the Adriatic coast in the early 15th century.Strauss, 46

Notes

References

*Brion, Marcel. ''Dürer''. London: Thames and Hudson, 1960 *Campbell Hutchison, Jane. ''Albrecht Dürer, A Guide to Research''. New York: Garland, 2000 *Minott, Charles Ilsley. "Albrecht Dürer: The Early Graphic Works". ''Record of the Art Museum'', Princeton University, Volume 30, No. 2, 1971 *Nürnberg, Verlag Hans Carl. ''Dürer in Dublin: Engravings and woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer''. Chester Beatty Library, 1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Monster 1490s works Prints by Albrecht Dürer 15th-century engravings Prints of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Prints in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen