The Virgin with the Swaddled Child

About this artwork

This image is among Dürer’s most sorrowful depictions of the Virgin and Child. In contrast to earlier engravings of the subject, Dürer presents them as monumental figures. Here, the Virgin sits on a large cushion and pensively cradles a tightly swaddled Christ Child. His wrappings, closed eyes, and stiff appearance evoke his future death and his burial shroud, emphasizing the outcome of his Passion as well as Mary’s foreknowledge of the events. Dürer draws attention to the Virgin’s holiness by r...