Satire met een vrouw die een ezel vast houdt bij de staart

About this artwork

collector's mark: Lugt 240

Art Historical Context

This intriguing woodcut print, created around 1535, showcases the satirical spirit of early 16th-century German art during the Reformation. Attributed in part to Erhard Schön, a Nuremberg draftsman and printmaker celebrated for his witty moral commentaries, the scene depicts a woman grasping a donkey by its tail—a visual metaphor likely drawn from popular proverbs to lampoon folly, stubbornness, or misguided behavior. Such imagery allowed artists to critique social norms and human vices in an accessible format that circulated widely among the emerging middle class. Printed on paper and measuring just 164 by 371 millimeters, the work exemplifies the power of graphic media to reach broad audiences beyond elite collectors. Schön’s style blends bold outlines with lively narrative detail, typical of Reformation-era broadsheets that combined humor and instruction. The presence of collector’s mark Lugt 240 further attests to its enduring appeal among connoisseurs who valued these small yet pointed visual satires as windows into the cultural debates of their time.