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This is a drawing of a human figure grappling with a canine creature. The drawing depicts a nude figure, with flowing hair, engaged in a struggle with an upright, wolf-like animal on a small piece of ground surrounded by shrub-like forms. The lines are delicate and precise, indicating careful attention to anatomical detail and proportion. The background consists of faint text showing through from the reverse side, which seems to suggest that this is a page from an old illustrated manuscript or book.
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This is a drawing of a human figure grappling with a canine creature. The drawing depicts a nude figure, with flowing hair, engaged in a struggle with an upright, wolf-like animal on a small piece of ground surrounded by shrub-like forms. The lines are delicate and precise, indicating careful attention to anatomical detail and proportion. The background consists of faint text showing through from the reverse side, which seems to suggest that this is a page from an old illustrated manuscript or book.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

"I Am Holding a Wolf by the Ears" (verso)

French early 16th Century

Date
c. 1512/1515
Medium
pen and brown and black ink, heightened with gold on laid paper
Dimensions
overall: 16.3 × 21.4 cm (6 7/16 × 8 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
2006.11.34.b
Credit line
Woodner Collection, Gift of Andrea Woodner
Time span
1501 to 1550
Department
CG-E
Original NGA record Wikidata

Portfolio and series

Series
Speculum principis (Mirror for Princes)

Subjects and terms

  • French
  • figure
  • plant
  • Nude
  • animal
Provenance

(Sale, London, Sotheby's, 13 July 1937, lot 64); (sale, London, Sotheby's, 15-17 November 1937, lot 546); (sale, London, Maggs Bros., Ltd., catalogue 709, 1941, no. 30); (purchased by William H. Schab Gallery via Paul Graupe); purchased by Ian Woodner, New York, by 1973; by inheritance to his daughters, Andrea and Dian Woodner, New York, 1990.

NGA object ID 86031. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.