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Overview

Dürer was born in Nuremberg and received a typical medieval training from his goldsmith father and from the Nuremberg painter Michael Wolgemut. Yet he was one of the major transmitters of the ideas of the Italian Renaissance to artists in the North. This was the result of direct experience acquired on two trips to Italy, as well as of his own diligent study of ideal figural proportions and perspective.

Dürer traveled to Venice in 1494/1495 and 1505/1507. While there, he became well acquainted with Giovanni Bellini, whose influence is evident in the Madonna and Child. The athletic Christ Child, the stable pyramid of the Virgin's form, the strong, and almost sculptural modeling of the figures, and the contrast of clear blue and red setting off Mary's shape all recall Bellini's treatment of the same subject.

On the other hand, Mary's placement in the corner of a room with a window open on a distant view indicates Dürer's familiarity with Netherlandish devotional images. The minute treatment of the Alpine landscape and the careful delineation of all textures and surfaces equally remind one of Dürer's persistent fascination with the North's tradition of visual exactitude.

The Madonna and Child probably was intended for private devotion. The diminutive coat–of–arms in the lower corners have been identified as those of the Hallery family (left) and Koberger (right), both prominent in Nuremberg.  Further, it has been suggested that the painting was commissioned by Wolf III Haller who married Ursula Koberger in 1491.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/german-painting-fifteenth-through-seventeenth-centuries.pdf

Inscription

lower left coat-of-arms: (Gules, a chapé emanating from the dexter flank argent, charged with a dexter gyron sable); crest: (out of a wreath of the liveries the torso of an armless Moorish woman proper, habited gules, crined and braided sable, earringed Or, wearing a "flying head band" (fliegende Binde) twisted gules and argent); mantling: (gules, lined argent); lower right coat-of-arms: (rendered heraldically indescribable by later additions)

Provenance

Probably a member of the Haller family, Nuremberg.[1] Possibly Paul von Praun [d. 1616] and descendants, Nuremberg, until at least 1778.[2] Charles à Court Repington [d. 1925], Amington Hall, Warwickshire; sold to Mrs. Phyllis Loder, London.[3] (sale, Christie's, London, 29 April 1932, no. 51, as Bellini); (Vaz Dias.)[4] Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza [1875-1947], Villa Favorita, Lugano-Castagnola, by 1934. (Pinakos, Inc. [Rudolf Heinemann], New York); on consignment 1950 to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); purchased 23 October 1950 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[5] gift 1952 by exchange to NGA.

Exhibition History

1986
Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg 1300-1550, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, 1986, no. 109 (shown only in New York).
2003
Albrecht Dürer, Albertina, Vienna, 2003, no. 29, repro.
2007
Dürer e l'Italia, Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome, 2007, no. IV.20, repro.
2007
Durero y Cranach: Arte y Humanismo en la Alemania del Renacimento, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2007-2008, no. 31, repro.
2012
The Early Dürer, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, 2012, no. 53, repro.

Technical Summary

Examination of the panel and the x-radiograph show that the support is comprised of four boards with vertically oriented grain. Unsmoothed adz marks are visible on the reverse, indicating that the panel was thinned and smoothed after joining. The edges are obscured by the picture frame, although it is possible to see that the bottom edge has been cut. Thin strips of wood are nailed to each picture edge.

Underdrawing in what appears to be a liquid material, possibly iron gall ink, can be seen in the Child's body with the unaided eye. Examination with infrared reflectography reveals diagonally hatched underdrawing in the face of the Madonna, and elsewhere a few contour lines. The Child's left foot was changed slightly from its underdrawn position. The coat of arms at the lower right has been heavily altered. The original arms are painted out, and both the x-radiograph and infrared reflectogram show only a single dark form against a light background. On the surface is a design of vertical and diagonal bars and three balls. Optical microscopy of the blue paint in this design disclosed synthetic ultramarine, a pigment that was not commercially produced until around 1828.[1] The Madonna and Child is in excellent condition. There is a scratch and a retouched loss in the window at the left. There is light abrasion in the flesh tones and in the glazes of the greens. The blue paint of the Madonna's robe is deeply cracked and has accumulated dark accretions in the thickest areas.

[1] Rutherford J. Gettens and George L. Stout, Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopedia (rev. ed., New York, 1966), 163.

Bibliography

1934
Buchner, Ernst. "Die Sieben Schmerzen Mariä: eine Tafel aus der Werkstatt des Jungen Dürer." Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst N.F. 11 (1934): 262, 265, 268-270, fig. 14.
1934
Friedländer, Max J. "Eine Unbekannte Dürer-Madonna." Pantheon 14 (1934): 321-324, repro.
1935
Deusch, Werner R. Deutsche Malerei des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts: die Malerei der Dürerzeit. Berlin, 1935: 26, pl. 4, 5.
1935
Waetzoldt, Wilhelm. Dürer und seine Zeit. Vienna, 1935: 210, 331. (English edition, New York, 1950: 141, 227.)
1936
Pilz, Kurt. "Der Totenschild in Nürnberg und seine deutschen Vorstufen: das 14.-15. Jahrhundert." Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums 49 (1936-1939): 72.
1937
Heinemann, Rudolf. Stiftung Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz. 3 vols. Lugano-Castagnola, 1937: 1:47, no. 127, 2:color pl. 30.
1938
Tietze, Hans, and Erika Tietze-Conrat. Kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke Albrecht Dürers. 3 vols. Basel and Leipzig, 1937: 2:15, no. 130a, repro. 173.
1943
Panofsky, Erwin. Albrecht Dürer. 2 vols. Princeton, 1943: 1:42, 2:10, no. 25.
1949
"Die Sammlung Thyssen der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich." Die Weltkunst 19 (1 September 1949): 8.
1950
Waetzoldt, Wilhelm. Dürer and His Times. New York, 1950: 141, 227.
1951
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 190-192, no. 84, repro.
1951
Winkler, Friedrich. "Hans Wechtlins 'Schöne Maria'." Berliner Museen N.F. 1 (1951): 9, 11, fig. 2.
1952
Frankfurter, Alfred M. "Interpreting Masterpieces. Twenty-four Paintings from the Kress Collection." Art News Annual (1952): 111-112, repro. 106.
1952
Walker, John. "Your National Gallery of Art After 10 Years." National Geographic Magazine 101 no. 1 (January 1952): 74.
1954
Tietze, Hans. Treasures of the Great National Galleries. New York, 1954: 117.
1956
Shapley, Fern Rusk. National Gallery of Art. Portfolio Number 5: Masterpieces from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. Washington, 1956: no. 5, repro.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 30.
1957
Winkler, Friedrich. Albrecht Dürer--Leben und Werk. Berlin, 1957: 77-78, 138, fig. 37.
1960
Broadley Hugh T. German Painting in the National Gallery of Art (Booklet no. 9 in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC). Washington, 1960: 4, 20-21, color repro.
1961
Longhi, Roberto. "Una Madonna del Dürer a Bagnacavallo." Paragone 139 (1961): 5-7.
1961
Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 80, 81, 83, 210, color fig. 73.
1962
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 70.
1962
Lüdecke, Heinz. "Dürer und Italien." In Dezennium 1: Zehn Jahre VEB Verlag der Kunst. Dresden, 1962: 292-293, repro.
1962
Neugass, Fritz. "Die Auflösung der Sammlung Kress." Die Weltkunst 32 (1 January, 1962): 4.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 116, repro. 117.
1964
Lüdecke, Heinz. "Albrecht Dürer und Italien." Bildende Kunst no. 2 (1964): 75, 77, repro.
1965
Grote, Ludwig. Dürer: Biographical and Critical Study. Translated by Helga Harrison. Geneva, 1965: 49, 51, repro. 50.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. .National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 45.
1966
Benesch, Otto. German Painting. From Dürer to Holbein, transl. H.S.B. Harrison. Geneva, 1966: 19-20, repro. 18.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:110-111, color repro.
1966
Musper, Heinrich Theodor. Albrecht Dürer. Translated by Robert Eric Wolf. New York, [1966]: 24.
1968
Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 13, 102-103, color repro.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 38, repro.
1968
Zampa, Giorgio and Angela Ottino della Chiesa, L'opera completa di Dürer. Milan, 1968: 95, no. 50a, pl. 9.
1971
Anzelewsky, Fedja. Albrecht Dürer. Das Malerische Werk. Berlin, 1971: 28-29, 71, 90, 93, 140-142, no. 43, fig. 20, pls. 39, 41-44. (Rev. ed. 1991: 27, 71, 91, 142, no. 43, color pl. 40-41, 45-47.)
1971
Hofmann, Walter Jürgen. Über Dürers Farbe. Nürnberg, 1971: 43 nt. 105, 87.
1971
Lanckoronska, Maria Gräfin. Neue Neithart-Studien. Neithart bei Dürer, zur Dokumentation und zum neu entdeckten Werk von Matthäus Gotthart Neithart. Baden-Baden, 1971: 55-60, figs. 28-29.
1971
Mende, Matthias. "1471-Albrecht Dürer-1971." The Connoisseur 176 (1971): 165.
1972
Lüdecke, Heinz. Albrecht Dürer. New York, 1972: 14, fig. 2.
1973
Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 87, repro., 168
1973
Oehler, Lisa. "Das Dürermonogramm auf Werken der Dürerschule." Städel-Jahrbuch N.F. 4 (1973): 72, fig. 63.
1974
Stechow, Wolfgang. "Recent Dürer Studies." The Art Bulletin 56, no. 2 (June 1974): 260.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue (National Gallery of Art). Washington, 1975: 116-117, repro.
1975
Paltrinieri, Marisa and Franco De Poli. I Geni dell'arte: Dürer. Milan, 1975: 34, 63, 93, repro.
1975
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 148-149, no. 160, repro.
1976
Mende, Matthias. Albrecht Dürer: Das Frühwerk bis 1500. Herrsching, 1976: 68-69, fig. 30.
1976
Strieder, Peter. Dürer. Milan, 1976: 40-41, 180, no. 11, repros.
1977
Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 12-16, figs. 11-14, color repro.
1977
Pope-Hennessy, John. "Completing the Account." Review of Colin Eisler, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, London 1977. Times Literary Supplement no. 3,927 (17 June 1977).
1979
Ruggeri, Ugo. Dürer. Bologna, 1979: 22-23, no. 4, color repro.
1979
Westrum, Geerd. Altdeutsche Malerei. Munich, 1979: 84-86, repro.
1980
Anzelewsky, Fedja. Dürer--vie et oeuvre. Translated by Monique Fuchs. Fribourg, 1980: 74, 76, 78, 86, 87, color fig. 70.
1982
Abrams, Richard I. and Warner A. Hutchinson. An Illustrated Life of Jesus, From the National Gallery of Art Collection. Nashville, 1982: 40-41, color repro.
1982
Anzelewsky, Fedja. Dürer. His Art and Life. Translated by Heide Grieve. London, 1982: 70, 82, fig. 70-71.
1982
Strieder, Peter. Albrecht Dürer. Paintings. Prints. Drawings. Translated from German by Nancy M. Gordon and Walter L. Strauss. New York, 1982: 318-319, fig. 418.
1983
Wolff, Martha. German Art of the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: unpaginated, repro.
1984
Sgarbi, Vittorio. Fondazione Magnani-Rocca. Capolavori della Pittura Antica. Milan, 1984: 74.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 148-149, no. 154, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 141, repro.
1990
Dülberg, Angelica. Privatportäts. Geschichte und Ikonologie einer Gattung im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert. Berlin, 1990: 297, no. 341, figs. 325-326.
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 187, color repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 60-61, repro.
1993
Ezendam, Yolanda. Dürer. Translated by Mauro Liloni. Milan, 1993: fig. 19.
1993
Hand, John Oliver, with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield. German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1993: 51-60, color repros. 53-54.
1994
Kamekura, Yusaku and Kijima, Shunsuke. Jozo ["Portraits of Women"]. Tokyo, 1994: 187, repro.
1995
Löcher, Kurt. Review of German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries, by John Oliver Hand with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield. Kunstchronik 43 no. 1 (January 1995): 15.
1999
Aikema, Bernard and Beverly Louise Brown. "Venice: Where North Meets South." In Renaissance Venice and the North: Crosscurrents in the Time of Bellini, Dürer and Titian. Exh. cat. Palazzo Grassi, 1999. Venice, 1999: 22, 24, color repro.
1999
Dunkerton, Jill. "North and South: Painting Techniques in Venice." In Renaissance Venice and the North: Crosscurrents in the Time of Bellini, Dürer and Titian. Exh. cat. Palazzo Grassi, 1999. Venice, 1999: 101.
2001
Mende, Matthias. "Dürer, Albrecht." In Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon: Die bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker. Munich and Leipzig, 1992-[unfinished] [vols.] Munich and Leipzig, 2001: 30:301.
2003
Schmid, Wolfgang. Dürer als Unternehmer: Kunst, Humanismus und Ökonomie in Nürnberg um 1500. Trier, 2003: 100-101, fig. 9.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 142-143, no. 111, color repro.
2009
Gariff, David, Eric Denker, and Dennis P. Weller. The World's Most Influential Painters and the Artists They Inspired. Hauppauge, NY, 2009: 35, color repro.
2010
Wolf, Norbert. Dürer. Munich, 2010: 238, no. 14, repro.
2012
Sauerländer, Willibald. “Dürer and Renoir.” New York Review of Books 59, no. 13 (August 16, 2012): 54.
2013
Delaney, John K., E. Melanie Gifford, Lisha D. Glinsman, John Oliver Hand, and Catherine Metzger. "Common Painting and Diligent Fiddling: Technical Analysis for Insight into the Divergent Styles of Dürer's 'Madonna and Child'/'Lot and his Daughters'. In The Challenge of the Object / Die Herausforderung des Objekts. 33rd Congress of the International Committee of the History of Art. Nuremberg, 2013: 1036-1040, fig. 1.
2021
Foister, Susan and Peter van den Brink, ed. Dürer’s Journeys: Travels of a Renaissance Artist. Exh. cat. National Gallery London 2021: no. 7; 19, 20, 58, 292.
2021
Gaay Fortman, Pienk de. "Highlights: Op reis mit Albrecht Dürer" review of exhibition Dürer's Journeys. (National Gallery London, 2021). Tableau Fine Arts Magazine 48, no. 1 (lente 2021): 68-69, color repro.

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