The Repose in Egypt

Series Title: The Life of the Virgin

c. 1501–1502

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)

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Culture

Germany, early 16th Century

Medium

woodcut

Credit Line

Dudley P. Allen Fund 1959.99.15

Catalogue raisonné

Meder 202 b

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Location

Not on view

Description

These eight woodcuts (1959.99.8-15) progress from Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would bear the Son of God, to the events of her early motherhood and beyond. This included the joy of sharing her pregnancy with her cousin Elizabeth, Jesus’s birth, and the subsequent arrival of the magi. After Jesus’s circumcision and presentation at the temple the Holy Family fled to Egypt to avoid Herod and stayed there for several years. The seemingly out of place last scene shows a glimpse of their daily life in Egypt as Joseph continues his carpentry and Mary spins wool. The Holy Family is surrounded by angels and helpful putti and are blessed by God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove overhead.