THE HOLY FAMILY WITH THREE HARES
Circa 1496
Story:
With monogram
386×276 mm
Handbooks:
Impression in the Museum collections
First half of the 16th century
Watermark:
is unclear because the sheet is mounted on thick paper
Provenance:
State Hermitage;
Rumyantsev Museum since 1862;
in the Museum since 1924
Inv. Г-2201
Description:
In Albrecht Durer's engraving "The Holy Family with Three Hares" (c. 1497/1498), the hares frolicking at the feet of the Madonna are intended to symbolize her fertility and the miracle of the Immaculate Conception.
How did a hare, which in another context (for example, located next to the goddess of sensual love Venus) symbolize not purity, but lust and voluptuousness, manage to become a symbol of the immaculate conception? As a result of observing wildlife and interpreting these observations.
Peasants noticed that female hares, giving birth to one litter after another, are capable of conceiving a new litter before giving birth to the first. And they interpreted the second pregnancy as virgin. Hence the equal sign between hares and the Virgin Mary.
Comments:
the impression is clear though the plate is worn; in the bottom part there is a 5-cm crack. There is no crack on the left hare present in the impressions made in 1560s; that is why this impression is dated before 1560 (M. 212, before the item е)
