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Albrecht Dürer, printmaker

Madonna with the Pear, 1511

Description

Maker

  • Albrecht Dürer, 1471-1528, German, printmaker

Title

Madonna with the Pear

Year

1511

Medium

Engraving, trimmed to platemark

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • engraving

Supports

  • Light weight laid paper

Dimensions

Plate: 15.7 x 10.8 cm (6 3/16 x 4 1/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Lettered within image, LL: "AD" and UC: "1511"

Identification

State

only state

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Prints

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

32.184

Projects & Publications

Publications

The Brilliant Line

Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Read Online

Dürer-Katalog

Ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line

September 18, 2009 - January 3, 2010

Dürer’s Madonna with the Pear exhibits his mastery of the precise and graphic qualities of engraving. His deeply cut lines, ordered space, and sharp contrasts result in an active surface that delights the eye with variety.

Drawing the Line

March 30 - June 10, 2001

Viewers today continue to marvel at Albrecht Dürer's unsurpassed printmaking skills. It is difficult to control an engraved line, as it is created by gouging into a metal plate with a v-shaped tool, called a burin, which must be pushed through and across the surface. Once the plate is inked and wiped, it is printed under great pressure, forcing the ink from the engraved lines of the plate onto the paper. The engraved line is typically sharp and crisp.

In this image, Dürer fills the sheet with fine, tightly-spaced lines consistent in their width and strength. The surface seems woven together in patterns of undulating parallel and cross-hatched, broken and unbroken marks. From a distance the lines read as tone; close up one can see how they curve to give volume to the figures and trees, how they describe surfaces, and how ornamental they are in and of themselves.

Helen M. Danforth

June 21 - September 8, 1985

German Renaissance Graphics from the Museum's Collection

November 28, 1961 - January 7, 1962

Engravings of the 15th and 16th Centuries

November 10, 1948 - February 4, 1949

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Madonna with the Pear with the accession number of 32.184. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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