id:			135059
accession number:	1958.106
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1958.106
updated:		2023-08-23 21:25:10.286000

The Little Fortune, c. 1497. Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Engraving; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. 1958.106

title:				The Little Fortune
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1497
creation date earliest:		1492
creation date latest:		1502
current location:		
creditline:			Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.
copyright:			

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culture:	Germany, late 15th-early 16th Century
technique:	engraving
department:	Prints
collection:	PR - Engraving
type:		Print
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne:  Meder 71a

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CREATORS

* Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)  - artist

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measurements: 
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support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints
	opening date:   1987-06-02T04:00:00
	<i>Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 2-August 2, 1987).

	title:		Dürer’s Women: Images of Devotion and Desire
	opening date:   2014-06-22T00:00:00
	<i>Dürer’s Women: Images of Devotion and Desire</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 28, 2014).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
With the help of a staff, Fortuna, the goddess of fortune or chance, balances on a sphere and holds a sprig of flowers in her left hand. In addition to representing her instability, the sphere suggests the worldly domain over which she influences at random. The flowers, traditionally identified as Eryngium, held aphrodisiac powers, suggesting the fickle nature of love. A more recent interpretation identifies them as Sternkraut, a plant that symbolized the idea that one’s fate has already been written. Both readings of the engraving, whether it regards love or life, inform the viewer that destiny is not of one’s own choosing.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.106/1958.106_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.106/1958.106_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.106/1958.106_full.tif