1513
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
The Virgin and Child on a Crescent is a 1513 ink by Albrecht Altdorfer, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This woodcut shows a woman holding a baby, surrounded by angels. The angels float around them, some playing instruments or holding objects like a crown. The woman wears a long robe with a crescent moon under her feet. The background has swirling clouds and a haloed figure above the woman’s head. The artist used sharp lines and patterns to create texture, like the folds in the robes or the clouds. This style was common in woodcuts of the time. Look up woodcut to see how artists carved images into wood blocks.
Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480 – 12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main…
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