Woodcut, 1505-07. 272x212 mm; 10 5/8x8 1/2 inches, thread margins. First state (of 2), before the monogram in the shield. Cross on a small mountain in a circle watermark (Meder 157, which he dates from circa 1580). A very good, early impression of this extremely scarce woodcut with strong contrasts.
According to Passavant, Dürer's woodcuts from the series of so-called Six Knots were based on Italian engravings from the circle of Leonardo da Vinci made around 1490-1500. Bartrum notes that the earliest impressions of Dürer's Knot woodcuts were printed on paper with an Italian watermark of a cardinal's hat, also seen on Dürer's drawings from his Italian sojourn in 1505-07, which makes it likely that these woodcuts were produced by the artist while he was still in Venice or shortly after his return to Nuremberg. "It is unclear what type of ornament is indicated in these designs. They may have been designs for embroidery or they may have served as patterns for a kind of decorative puzzle for artists working in various crafts. Similar knot designs occur in paintings and mural decorations of Leonardo's school, such as the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse in the castle at Milan," (Bartrum, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy, Princeton, 2002, page 161).
An exceedingly scarce woodcut; we have found only two other impressions at auction in the past 30 years. Bartsch 140; Meder 274.
