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Albrecht Dürer

Virgin and Child with a Monkey

Description

Maker

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528)

Title

Virgin and Child with a Monkey

Year

ca. 1498

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

engraving

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 19.1 x 12.4 cm (7 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches)

Identification

State

only state

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

49.001

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line
Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Sep 18, 2009 – Jan 03, 2010

Label copy

Albrecht Dürer’s earliest engravings already reveal his organized, graphic approach to engraving, characterized by refined transitions from dark to light that create unprecedented three-dimensionality. This engraving is noteworthy for its astonishing array of textures, from the monkey’s hair to the Virgin Mary’s velvet sleeve to the atmospheric sky, all achieved with extremely thin, long lines laid in organized sections.

The Virgin is shown with the Christ Child on her lap, next to a chained monkey within an expansive river landscape. The monkey is a zoological study with a theological role: it signifies the power of Mary’s virtue to tame the lust of Eve (and thus Original Sin). The fisherman’s house in the background was perhaps the most copied of all Dürer’s landscape motifs.

Helen M. Danforth
A Tribute
Jun 21, 1985 – Sep 08, 1985
Master Prints from the Permanent Collection
Jun 21, 1985 – Sep 08, 1985
German Renaissance Graphics from the Museum's Collection
Nov 28, 1961 – Jan 07, 1962
German Etchings and Engravings
Apr 30, 1953 – Jun 09, 1953

Use & Feedback

Image use

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528)
Virgin and Child with a Monkey, ca. 1498
Engraving, trimmed to platemark
Plate: 19.1 x 12.4 cm (7 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth 49.001

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