Description
Young Hare by Albrecht Dürer presents a resting animal with upright ears and finely observed, mottled fur. The plain background draws attention to the turn of its body, the whiskers and the alert eye. Dated 1502, this watercolor and bodycolor study balances delicate detail with a strong sense of the animal’s living presence.
The subject was particularly challenging: the hare’s fur lay in different directions and the animal was mottled with lighter and darker patches all over, Dürer had to adapt the standard conventions of shading to indicate the outline of the subject by the fall of light across the figure. Despite the technical challenges presented in rendering the appearance of light with a multi-coloured, multi-textured subject, Dürer not only managed to create a detailed, almost scientific, study of the animal but also infuses the picture with a warm golden light that hits the hare from the left, highlighting the ears and the run of hair along the body, giving a spark of life to the eye, and casting a strange shadow to the right.
Learn about the printing process in our guide to giclée prints. Explore more Albrecht Dürer prints, or view The Rhinoceros.
