1508
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Virgin with a Starry Crown is a 1508 by Albrecht Dürer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
The painting shows the Virgin Mary standing on a crescent moon, wearing a crown of twelve stars, with a bright halo around her head and Jesus in her arms. Rays of light glow behind her like a second halo, and the sky is filled with tiny stars. This image comes from a vision in the Bible’s Book of Revelation, where a woman "clothed with the sun" gives birth to a holy child. Dürer made four versions of this scene, linking Mary to that celestial figure. He carved it in print form, so many copies could be shared. The Cleveland Museum of Art holds this version, rich in detail and meaning from a time when religious signs were everywhere in art. (Word count: 106)
Dürer made four engravings of the Virgin and Child standing on a crescent moon. These devotional images link the Madonna with the pregnant woman of the apocalypse from chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation. The verse says that "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars . . . " appeared in heaven, delivering a son to conquer Satan—a prefiguration of Christ. In direct contrast with the crowned Virgin here, whose double aureole shines extravagantly around her figure, Dürer conceived the Madonna (1958.116) with simplicity and humility. In…
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.
See the richer artist pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
![Madonna and Child [obverse]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/d7b8ebf05d22ebe5/thumb.webp)
![Lot and His Daughters [reverse]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/b4ebf9b282faa17a/thumb.webp)
