Madonna with the Monkey
c. 1498
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
19 × 12.2 cm (7 1/2 × 4 13/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
28341
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Albrecht Dürer’s touchingly delicate landscape engraving of the Madonna with the Christ Child in her arms and a domesticated monkey has been the subject of many subsequent interpretations. One of the earliest, broadly rethought by the Master M. Z., is also on display nearby, while the background reappears in another Art Institute work, Giulio Campagnola’s Ganymede. In contrast, Agostino Veneziano in Italy and the Wierix brothers in the Netherlands would try their hand at reproducing the composit...
About the Artist
Albrecht Dürer · 1471–1528
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) stands as the preeminent figure of the Northern Renaissance and arguably the most influential artist in the history of printmaking. Born in Nuremberg on May 21, 1471, and dying in the same city on April 6, 1528, Dürer revolutionized the status of the artist in Northern Europe, transforming printmaking from a commercial craft into an independent fine art and establishing ...