Cleveland Museum of Art
The Betrothal of the Virgin
Albrecht DürerLinkedCulture matchlcp-91cf98b472c5
- Date
- c. 1504–1505
- Medium
- woodcut
- Culture
- Germany, early 16th Century
- Department
- Prints
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 136190
From LinkedCulture
Beneath an ornate Renaissance arch, a high priest joins the hands of a young Mary and an older, bearded Joseph while a crowd of witnesses presses in from both sides. This is Albrecht Dürer's Betrothal of the Virgin, a woodcut from around 1504 to 1505, part of his celebrated Life of the Virgin series. Dürer's monogram tablet sits right on the ground in the foreground, a quiet signature within a scene packed with architectural detail and fluid line work. What makes it remarkable is that he achieved all of this through woodcut alone, a medium far less forgiving than engraving, transforming what the form could express.
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 devoted three woodcuts (1959.99.5-7) to the significant events in Mary’s youth prior to her sacred calling. His depiction of her birth recalls a contemporary birthing scene, complete with midwives, female friends, and relatives. Anna rests from her efforts in the background while an attendant bathes the infant Mary in the immediate right foreground. The religious significance of the event is made known by the presence of an angel above. In the subsequent prints Mary is presented several years later at the temple (running up the stairs), followed by her betrothal to an older widowed man named Joseph.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Dudley P. Allen Fund
- Provenance
- ?–1959: (William H. Schab Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 1959–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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