THE ILL-ASSORTED COUPLE (OR THE OFFER OF LOVE)

Different researchers tried to find a literary source of the print but in vain. It seems that Dürer dedicated this image to the mercenary motives behind love. It is a topic often depicted in the late Middle Ages, either as a couple of an old man and a young girl or as an old woman offering money to a young man. Dürer depicted an old man looking for money in his purse, and a young girl reaching out for his coins.