The Virgin with the swaddled Child (B. 38; M., Holl. 40; S.M.S. 91)

Details

Albrecht Dürer
The Virgin with the swaddled Child (B. 38; M., Holl. 40; S.M.S. 91)
engraving, 1520, a fine Meder a impression, printing with the selectively wiped tone characteristic of early impressions, the tone softening the lines radiating at the top, without watermark, with 3-4 mm. margins on all sides, in excellent condition
P. 142 x 96 mm., S. 148 x 101 mm.

Provenance

P. Davidsohn (L. 654); C. G. Boerner, Leipzig, 3 - 8 May 1920, lot 1457 (8,000 Mk.).
With P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London.
This impression cited in Hollstein's list of sales.

Literature

This impression recorded in Hollstein's list of sales.

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

Dürer's treatment of the present work is not quite as spare as the Virgin nursing the Child (lot 115). He has opened up the image and hinted at a landscape in the background, and included some detail, such as the cushion and the stony ground. He did however keep the overall darkness of the image whilst intensifying the effect of the the Virgin's halo by placing her head in the centre of the sky, and by treating the radiating lines even more systematically, as if the entire sky was illuminated by her radiance.

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