The Birth of the Virgin

c. 1503/1504

Albrecht Dürer

Associated Names
Albrecht Dürer

Artist, German, 1471 - 1528

This is a drawing of an angel overseeing a domestic scene. The composition is detailed and busy, with the angel in the sky and figures below engaged in various activities. The room below the angel shows women tending to daily tasks. The drawing includes architectural elements, furniture, and figures that depict a realistic domestic setting being observed by the angel.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of W.G. Russell Allen

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to block): 29.6 × 20.9 cm (11 5/8 × 8 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1941.1.30

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Meder, no. 192

  • Series Title

    The Life of the Virgin

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Vincent Mayer [1831-1918], New York (Lugt 2525). Wiliam Goodwin Russell Allen [1882-1955], Boston; gift to NGA, 1941.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1970

  • Albrecht Dürer, 1471-1528: A Study Exhibition of Print Connoisseurship, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1970-1971, no. 38D.

Bibliography

1932

  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

2001

  • Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 2: no. 170.

Wikidata ID

Q18338563

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