Cleveland Museum of Art
The Virgin and Child with the Pear
Albrecht DürerLinkedCulture matchlcp-91cf98b472c5
- Date
- 1511
- Medium
- engraving
- Culture
- Germany
- Department
- Prints
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 136141
From LinkedCulture
In this 1511 engraving by Albrecht Dürer, a mother holds out a pear to her child, hoping to catch his eye, but the Christ child turns instead to bless the viewer. The contrast between her quiet, human gesture and his divine attention is the whole tension of the image, held in a single small print. Dürer's fine crosshatching builds a soft atmospheric glow across the sky and the heavy folds of Mary's robe, pushing copper engraving further than almost anyone had before.
Written by LinkedCulture for its video on this object. Machine-generated (claude-sonnet-4-6), not yet reviewed by a person. It is not part of the museum’s record.
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
Dürer portrays the Virgin and Child on an outing away from the city in this relatively casual moment in which they rest beside a tree. As the Christ child looks directly toward the viewer to bestow a blessing, his young mother tries to redirect his attention to the pear in her hand. Here, Dürer emphasizes the natural actions of a mother trying to distract her child. Although Mary knows his holy mission and tragic destiny, she still attempts to prolong her child’s joyful youth with innocent amusements. Dürer demonstrates his further technical and artistic development in this medium through the subtle overall tonality he achieved with light and shadow, particularly in the sky and Mary’s clothing.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland in honor of William Mathewson Milliken
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