Albrecht Dürer, The Little Fortune
Hanna Jr., 1958.106 · The Cleveland Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0)View original →
Albrecht Dürer

The Little Fortune

c. 1497

Current Collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Medium
engraving
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-220014

With the help of a staff, Fortuna, the goddess of fortune or chance, balances on a sphere and holds a sprig of flowers in her left hand. In addition to representing her instability, the sphere suggests the worldly domain over which she influences at random. The flowers, traditionally identified as Eryngium, held aphrodisiac powers, suggesting the fickle nature of love. A more recent interpretation identifies them as Sternkraut, a plant that symbolized the idea that one’s fate has already been written. Both readings of the engraving, whether it regards love or life, inform the viewer that dest…

Provenance

Hanna Jr., 1958.106

Registry history

  • c. 1497 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — prints

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