2. Albrecht Dürer
(1471-1528)

The Virgin with the Swaddled Child

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Dürer, The Virgin with the Swaddled

The Virgin with the Swaddled Child

Engraving, 1520, 136 x 95 mm., Bartsch 38, Meder 40 a-b (of e), ex collection: Hans Rinn (Lugt 4048-49). Very fine impression with strong contrasts on laid paper, trimmed on the plate mark at the sides, a few mm. within at the top and bottom but essentially complete. The figures are monumental, totally dominating the setting and the distant landscape. The image is sometimes referred to as tragic, as the tight swaddling of the infant hints at the future winding sheet of the dead Christ. The Virgin’s eyes are downcast; the child’s are completely closed. And yet the expressions are serene. It is an almost unbelievably powerful image.