(Nuremberg 1471-1528)
Knot with a heart-shaped shield, woodcut, prior to the monogram of Dürer, on laid paper with watermark " Cross on a trimount in a circle" (Meder watermark 157), 27,2 x 21,2 cm, trimmed along framing lines, Bartsch 140, Meder 274 I (of II c), unframed, (Sch)

Very excellent early impression of the rare 1st state and prior to the addition of the artist’s monogram; yet with the watermark “Cross on a trimount in a circle” mentioned by Meder for the 2nd state (Meder watermark 157). Slightly browned, the margins somewhat soiled, otherwise in a very good condition. Very rare in this early state.
The present woodcut is the first of a series of six woodcuts depicting various ornaments which are labyrinthine in appearance and depict knot designs or ornaments, which Dürer created on the basis of Italian copper engravings by Leonardo da Vinci ("Academia") and his circle. Dürer saw them on his trip to Italy. However, little is known about the exact background and dating of the "series of knots". In his diary of the journey to the Netherlands, Dürer mentions the series as "the 6 knots". He may have created them as patterns for potters and glass painters. In any case, it is documented that in January 1521 Dürer gave Dirck Jacobsz Vellert, who was a glass painter and dean of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke, a set that contained the woodcuts for the "Apocalypse" as well as the "6 knots". The lack of Dürer's monogram on all six woodcuts can possibly be explained by the fact that Dürer's prints were not his own invention but imitate Italian engravings. In any case, knot interlacing was a fashionable commonplace in Upper Italian art in the late Quattrocento; its use ranged from framing a large altarpiece to fashionable costume details. (cf. Schoch/Mende/Scherbaum, vol. II, p. 146). The design of the first woodcut of the series offered here is formed by concentric circles with three alternating rows of 16 single and double knots each, in the center of which is a heart-shaped shield. The motif is repeated in the corners, each with a large double knot surrounded by a fine ornament of intertwined lines. The present copy is one of the rare early prints of the series of knots prior to the addition of Dürer's monogram, which was added only after the artist's death and is therefore found exclusively on posthumous prints.