Lot 45
45
Albrecht Dürer
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
Albrecht Dürer

Christ taking leave from His Mother, from The Life of the Virgin (B. 92; M., Holl. 204; S.M.S. 182)

Details
Albrecht Dürer
Christ taking leave from His Mother, from The Life of the Virgin (B. 92; M., Holl. 204; S.M.S. 182)
woodcut, circa 1504, a fine, early proof before the Latin text edition of 1511, watermark High Crown (M. 20), trimmed on, to or just outside the borderline, in excellent condition
S. 295 x 208 mm.
Provenance
F. von Hagens (L. 1052 a).
F. Somary (his stamp verso, not in Lugt).
Special Notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The woodcut of Christ taking leave from his Mother, a moment in the Life of the Virgin that is described neither in the Gospels nor the Apocrypha, is one of the more overt references to the Passion of Christ in the series. The group of figures comprising the Virgin, Martha and Mary Magdalene is very much reminiscent of a Lamentation. However Dürer has refrained from depicting any actual scenes from the Passion within the Life of the Virgin, thereby breaking with tradition, which would have seen the inclusion of the Betrayal, the Flagellation, the Crucifixion and the Death of Christ as four of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

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