THE SECRETS OF KNIGHT DEATH AND THE THE DEVIL -DER REUTER-PART I

By Elizabeth Garner | January 2014

Der Reuter, erroneously called Knight, Death, Devil

The print called Knight, Death and the Devil by art historians was named by Dürer himself as “Der Reuter”-the Rider and created and dated in 1513. It has been considered one of the three of Dürer’s great “meistersttiches” (masterpieces) along with the engravings St. Jerome in the Study and Melencholia I. It was one of Adolf Hitler’s favorite prints; Hitler insisted that this print embodied the nationalistic pride of the Aryan race and represented the Teutonic superiority of the Germans.

While the man riding the horse is dressed in armor and is most likely at least of the social status of a knight or higher, Dürer would have called this print Der Landsnecht, the German word for knight, if he was truly representing just a knight.

But he didn’t. He specifically indicates that this armored figure is “riding” solo by the title. His title selection doesn’t even give an inclination as to who the other figures are in the composition or why they are there unless the figures have something to do with a lone rider.

Neither are the other two figures actually depictions of “Death” or of the “Devil.” The figure known as “Death” on the left holding the hourglass is a very fleshy figure wearing a crown.