Artwork Page for The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple

Details / Information for The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple

Series Title: The Life of the Virgin

The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple

c. 1502–1503

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
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Culture
Germany, early 16th Century
Medium
woodcut
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1959.99.6
Catalogue raisonné
Meder 193
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Dürer devoted three woodcuts (1959.99.5-7) to the significant events in Mary’s youth prior to her sacred calling. His depiction of her birth recalls a contemporary birthing scene, complete with midwives, female friends, and relatives. Anna rests from her efforts in the background while an attendant bathes the infant Mary in the immediate right foreground. The religious significance of the event is made known by the presence of an angel above. In the subsequent prints Mary is presented several years later at the temple (running up the stairs), followed by her betrothal to an older widowed man named Joseph.
A vertically oriented woodcut in dense black-inked fine lines depicts people with light skin tones. Centrally, a child walks up steps toward three robed men standing beneath a canopy. On the lower left, a person sits at a table with coins and a caged bird near two sheep. To the right, a large crowd watches. Behind them, an archway reveals a landscape, and a statue stands on a balcony in the upper right.

The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple

c. 1502–1503

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Germany, early 16th Century

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