1501
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
The Virgin and Child Surrounded by Saints and Angels is a 1501 by Albrecht Dürer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
The painting shows the Virgin and Child surrounded by saints and angels. It's a crowded scene with many figures. The Virgin and Child are at the center, with saints and angels around them. This painting is interesting because it shows the Virgin in a domestic setting, which is not typical. To learn more about the artist's use of light and dark, look up the technique: chiaroscuro.
Dürer depicted the scene of the Virgin’s death (1959.99.18) as an intimate one, with the apostles keeping vigil around her deathbed. Three days later they witnessed Mary’s bodily assumption into paradise where she was crowned the Queen of Heaven (1959.99.19). The final print (1959.99.20), which some believe was conceived independently from the series because it falls outside of the typical narrative, shows the Virgin in a domestic setting surrounded by several saints, angels, and putti that celebrate her life-an especially fitting way to end the series.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Albrecht Dürer spent his life in Nuremberg, a busy German city where artists traded prints like currency.
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