The Adoration of Magi (B. 3; M., Holl. 208; S.M.S. 225)

Details

Albrecht Dürer
The Adoration of Magi
(B. 3; M., Holl. 208; S.M.S. 225)
woodcut, 1511, watermark Bull's Head with Letters JZ (M. 70), a very good Meder b impression, with thread margins, trimmed to the borderline in places, a repaired and made up area on the horizontal beam at left, another small repair in the blank area above
B., S. 11 9/16 x 8¾ in. (294 x 222 mm.)

Provenance

Peter Lely (1618-1680), London (L. 2092); possibly his posthumous sale, Sonnius, Lankrink and Thompson, London, 11 April 1688.
Princes of Liechtenstein, by repute (not in Lugt).
Sotheby's, London, 15 March 1952.
With Colnaghi's, London (their stocknumber C. 27654 in pencil
verso); purchased at the above sale, sold to a private collector on 26 September 1952.

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Lot Essay

Dürer made this woodcut the same year he published another version of the same subject in the Life of the Virgin. Since this block is nearly half an inch wider than the prints in the series, he cannot have made it as a replacement for the earlier woodcut. Nevertheless it represents a remarkable development and gives reason to think that Dürer might have grown dissatisfied with his earlier effort. The comparison shows what clarity and monumentality he now brought to individual forms and the whole composition alike.

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