The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
c. 1500
Medium
engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to plate): 11.7 × 7.2 cm (4 5/8 × 2 13/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.3479
Art Historical Context
Behold Albrecht Dürer's exquisite engraving *The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne* (c. 1500), a masterful Northern Renaissance print that captures a tender family scene from Christian devotion. The composition shows the Virgin Mary cradling the Christ Child, with Saint Anne—Mary's mother—gazing lovingly nearby, embodying the theme of sacred lineage so revered in late medieval and early Renaissance art. At just 11.7 × 7.2 cm, this intimate work on laid paper was designed for close contemplation by collectors and the devout. Dürer, a German artist and pioneering printmaker, revolutionized engra...
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 ...