Artwork Page for Life of the Virgin: The Nativity

Details / Information for Life of the Virgin: The Nativity

Life of the Virgin: The Nativity

1504–1505

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Culture
Germany, early 16th Century
Medium
woodcut
Credit Line
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1922.293
Catalogue raisonné
Meder 197
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

This print depicting Christ’s birth belongs to one of the numerous print series that Albrecht Dürer produced on religious themes. Here, the artist focused on everyday details of the Virgin Mary’s life story to emphasize her humanity. Dürer revolutionized the technique of woodcut with such scenes, which told biblical stories with enough descriptive detail and skillful narrative staging to minimize the need for text. The textures, fine details, and perspectival space of his woodcuts surpassed any examples of the medium before him.
A vertically oriented woodcut in dense black-inked fine lines depicts people with light skin tones gathering in a ruined building. On the right, a woman kneels before a baby in a basket, surrounded by tiny winged figures. On the left, a man stands leaning on a staff. Behind the woman, two more men enter a doorway. In the upper left, four winged child figures fly, while a radiant star shines from the upper right.

Life of the Virgin: The Nativity

1504–1505

Albrecht Dürer

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

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