Rustic Couple 1497

Albrecht Dürer made this engraving called Rustic Couple in Germany, sometime around 1500. It shows a man in mid-song or speech, with a woman holding what seems to be a jug of wine. In this period, the institution of art was closely linked with religious authority and aristocratic power. Yet here, Dürer turns his attention to the peasantry. He does not romanticize their life; rather, he shows what might be seen as its vulgarity. Look at the man’s wide open mouth, unkempt hair, and sword. Look at the woman’s heavy clothing and her glance, which seems to convey a world-weariness. These details would have been read as signs of the moral failings of ordinary people. This work can be better understood in relation to the wider tradition of moralizing prints produced at this time. Art historians use these prints, along with other sources such as letters, diaries, and household inventories, to understand how people lived and thought in the past.