Art, literature & history
Coat of Arms with a Skull
1503
- Dating
- Exact year
- Held at
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Medium
- engraving
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 22.2 x 15.9 cm (8 3/4 x 6 1/4 in.)
- Collection no.
- 1953.9
- Attribution
- By the artist
- Image rights
- CC0 1.0License details
Albrecht Dürer. Coat of Arms with a Skull. The Cleveland Museum of Art. CC0 1.0. Compressed full-frame reproduction.
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
About this artwork
Coat of Arms with a Skull — Albrecht Dürer. 1503.
Medium: engraving. Dimensions: Sheet: 22.2 x 15.9 cm (8 3/4 x 6 1/4 in.).
Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.
In this visual allegory, Dürer creatively entangled themes of love and death. The hairy wild man, a traditional medieval figure of virility, lust, and aggression, plays the role of lover to a maiden dressed in alluring clothing. The skull on the fanciful coat of arms is a bold reminder that vanity and illicit desire carry a mortal price.
Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.
Location checked Sep 10, 2026. This does not indicate whether the work is on display.