Venus after the Bath
c. 1525/1530
Medium
engraving
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.405
Art Historical Context
Albrecht Altdorfer's *Venus after the Bath*, around 1525–1530, is a delicate engraving that captures the nude goddess of love in a moment of intimate repose. As a leading figure of the Danube School in the Northern Renaissance, Altdorfer meticulous detail with a poetic sense of nature, often elevating landscape elements to near-mythic status. Here, Venus emerges from her bath, her form rendered with soft, flowing lines that evoke both classical antiquity and the era's fascination with the human body. This print exemplifies the technical virtuosity of early 16th-century engraving, a medium Alt...
About the Artist
Albrecht Altdorfer · 1475–1538
Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538) was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman who stands as one of the founders of landscape painting as an independent genre. Born in Regensburg or nearby Altdorf, he learned art from his father Ulrich, a painter and miniaturist. Altdorfer spent most of his life in Regensburg, becoming a citizen in 1505 and later serving as the city's official architect and a m...