The Virgin and Child Surrounded by Saints and Angels

Series Title: The Life of the Virgin

The Virgin and Child Surrounded by Saints and Angels

c. 1500–1502

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)

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Culture

Germany, early 16th Century

Medium

woodcut

Credit Line

Dudley P. Allen Fund 1959.99.20

Catalogue raisonné

Meder 207 a

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Location

Not on view

Description

Dürer depicted the scene of the Virgin’s death (1959.99.18) as an intimate one, with the apostles keeping vigil around her deathbed. Three days later they witnessed Mary’s bodily assumption into paradise where she was crowned the Queen of Heaven (1959.99.19). The final print (1959.99.20), which some believe was conceived independently from the series because it falls outside of the typical narrative, shows the Virgin in a domestic setting surrounded by several saints, angels, and putti that celebrate her life-an especially fitting way to end the series.