a thoughtful rabbit for your easter

thanks wikimedia commons (PD:100)

Here's Hans Hoffmann (German, 1530-1591), considered the best of the Albrecht Durer copyists, with a remake of Durer's Hare.  We last saw him revamp a Durer squirrel.  As with that work, here we see an animal less feral, wiry and wary.  This animal is plumper, more relaxed.  Durer's hare has a cold bright appraisal in his eyes; here we see more curiosity than fear, borne out by a comfortable slump over one paw.  Notice the "AD" monogram below the nose.  Hoffmann wasn't trying to fool anyone, but he didn't replicate his Durers stroke for stroke for the most part.  Was he trying to create the kinder, gentler Durer, or is this an example of how an artist's base nature will out?
In any case, he's a friendly face for your holiday.  Rabbits are a Christian symbol of rebirth and resurrection, and I wish you all the renewed vitality of this new season (depending on which side of the world I find you!).

Happy Easter!