Albrecht Dürer's suite of illustrations known as the
The Life of the Virgin is a set of 19 images derived from woodcuts that were
published for the first time in 1511.
Knackfuss (Durer: H Grevel & Co, London; 1900)
opens his description of the suite with a focus on the frontispiece, thus:
In this charming design, which fills
only a portion of the page, in order to leave
room for the title, we see the Virgin
Mary with the child at her breast, represented,
at the same time, as the woman of the
Apocalypse, with the moon under her
feet, surrounded by the sun, and having
a crown of twelve stars over her head.
It is wonderful what in impression of
radiant light Dürer has managed to produce
with black lines.
Knackfuss continues his discussion of the suite, thus:
Next to the title are placed the
sixteen cuts [produced prior to 1510]. After these
cometwo splendid designs, added in
1510, in which we see clearly, when we
compare them with the earlier ones, how
much Dürer had perfected his style in
Above we
show the effective
Title Page to Albrecht
Dürer's
The Life of the Virgin
the meantime. The first of the two represents the
death-chamber of the Virgin. We
are conscious of the solemn silence, in which all
voices are hushed and no footstep
is heard, in the circle of the Apostles round the bed,
on which the Mother of Christ,
with her countenance beautified by death and an
expression of blissful peace upon
it, has just drawn her last breath. Then comes the
Assumption of the Virgin, a
composition which in its general arrangement resembles
the Heller altarpiece,
though in all details it is freshly thought out. Below,
the Apostles are assembled
round the stone coffin which was to have contained the
body of the Virgin and
look up to heaven full of astonishment at the
incomprehensible event. Above, she
who has been released from the grave kneels in a space
full of radiant beams, over
clouds and rainbow, with her form transfigured and made
younger, and receives
the crown of heaven from the Triune God. After this
there follows yet another
and extremely delightful concluding design, which must
have been produced, by
the style of the drawing, before [Dürer's] visit to
Venice, and which forms, as it
were, an epilogue to the story of Our Lady's life. The
Virgin sits as Queen of
Heaven, with the child Jesus on her lap, worshipped by
angels and saints, but she
sits not on a celestial throne but in a familiar,
earthly chamber, as a gracious
intercessor whom mortals dare to approach.
Our Greeting Cards and Reproduction Prints
For connoisseurs, we have prepared sets of 19 Greeting Cards displaying
each of the images from Dürer's The Life of the Virgin and on the left, we show an example of how these Greeting
Cards appear. Ordering one of those sets is as easy as selecting the "Add to
Cart" feature below and following the prompts provided with our Shopping Cart
secured through PayPal. Multiple purchases will
be consolidated by that feature and shipping and handling costs to any destination in the world are accommodated by our flat-rate fee of US$20 for every
US$200 worth of purchases.
Code: AD
LV
MS(19) Price: US$95.00
When presented on Greeting Cards, these
images are prepared as tipped-on
plates - in hommage to the hand-crafted
approach typical
of prestige illustrated publications produced in the early decades
of the 20th Century. Each card is
hand-finished and the images are presented
on White
card stock with an accompanying envelope. On the rear of each
card we also present some information about this great
work and each individual illustration. We have left the interior
of the cards blank so that you may write your own personal message.
Should you wish to order a Reproduction Print from this suite,
we have provided some options below. Of course,
should you wish to
discuss some customised options, we welcome
your contact on any matter through
%20(250).jpg)
%20(sample).jpg)
%20('Refusal%20of%20Joachim's%20Offer')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Angel%20Appearing%20to%20Joachim')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Meeting%20of%20Joachim%20and%20Anne%20at%20the%20Golden%20Gate')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Birth%20of%20the%20Virgin')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Presentation%20of%20the%20Virgin%20in%20the%20Temple')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Marriage%20of%20the%20Virgin')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Annunciation')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Visitation')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Adoration%20of%20the%20Shepherds')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Circumcision%20of%20Christ')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Adoration%20of%20the%20Magi')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Presentation%20of%20Christ%20in%20the%20Temple')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Flight%20into%20Egypt')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Rest%20During%20the%20Flight%20to%20Egypt')%20(250).jpg)
%20('Christ%20among%20the%20Doctors%20in%20the%20Temple')%20(250).jpg)
%20('Christ%20Taking%20Leave%20of%20His%20Mother')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Death%20of%20Mary')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Coronation%20of%20the%20Virgin')%20(250).jpg)
%20('The%20Virgin%20Worshipped%20by%20Angels%20and%20Saints')%20(250).jpg)
