In 1522, the Augsburg sculptor Hans Daucher created a limestone plaquette, depicting Albrecht Dürer, engaged in a duel with an unidentified adversary. It imagines Dürer as a courtly combatant and stands in contrast to other representations, which emphasize his intellectual and creative gifts. Drawing attention to the artist’s body, the Daucher relief presents it as a powerful masculine presence whose artistic skills – like skillful violence – enable him to dominate his cultural competitors. In pre-modern Europe, ritualized violence allowed aristocratic men to express their virtue and differentiate themselves from men of other classes. In the courtly culture of the sixteenth century, artistic skill and skillful violence were increasingly viewed as interchangeable forms of instrumental power which allowed a courtier to assert dominance over his competitors. In what follows, I hope to demonstrate that the Daucher relief exploits the symbolic significance of ritual combat and the increasing conceptual parity between artistic skill and skillful violence, in order to present Dürer as a cultural warrior worthy of the honor and esteem of his aristocratic counterparts.