The Visitation, from The Fall and Redemption of Man
Medium
Woodcut in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/block: 7.2 × 4.8 cm (2 7/8 × 1 15/16 in.)
Classification
wood engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
27553
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Art Institute of Chicago's and Drawings collection, where you'll find *The Visitation, from The Fall and Redemption of Man (1513), a delicate woodcut by Albrecht Altdorfer. This gem, measuring just 7.2 × 4.8 cm, captures a pivotal biblical moment—likely the meeting of the Virgin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth—within a larger series narrating humanity's fall and salvation. Printed in black ink on ivory laid paper, exemplifies early 16th-century German printmaking, a time when religious imagery flourished amid the Northern Renaissance. Altdorfer, a master of the Danube School, was...
About the Artist
Albrecht Altdorfer · 1475–1538
Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538) was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman who stands as one of the founders of landscape painting as an independent genre. Born in Regensburg or nearby Altdorf, he learned art from his father Ulrich, a painter and miniaturist. Altdorfer spent most of his life in Regensburg, becoming a citizen in 1505 and later serving as the city's official architect and a m...