The Holy Family with the Butterfly (Q3944475)
Label from: English (en)
movement:
German Renaissance (Q2455000)
genre:
religious art (Q2864737)
artist:
Albrecht Dürer (Q5580)
collection:
Chester Beatty Library (Q391976)
Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums (Q109893034)
Cleveland Museum of Art (Q657415)
National Gallery of Art (Q214867)
Prints in the National Gallery of Art (Q64946756)
Rosenwald Collection (Q62274660)
Städel Museum (Q163804)
Indianapolis Museum of Art (Q1117704)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Q160236)
location:
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Q700216)
Chester Beatty Library (Q391976)
National Gallery of Art (Q214867)
Cleveland Museum of Art (Q657415)
country of origin:
Germany (Q183)
main subject:
Holy Family (Q618057)
material used:
print (Q11060274)
laid paper (Q1513685)
location of final assembly:
Nuremberg (Q2090)
fabrication method:
engraving process (Q139106)
instance of:
copper engraving print (Q18887969)
print (Q11060274)
National Gallery of Art artwork ID:
909
catalog URL: https://clevelandart.org/art/1989.231
information from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin catalog
description: Dürer’s earliest engraving of the Virgin and Child theme features the Madonna seated on a grassy bench in an enclosed garden, a traditional subject alluding to her virginity. The divine presence of God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove overhead reinforces her sacred role as the mother of the Messiah, while Joseph, idly napping to the side, imparts a sense of domesticity and humanity to the scene. Because Dürer returned to this theme continuously throughout his career, it is possible to track his artistic development in engraving. For example, Joseph’s awkward proportions reveal Dürer’s relative inexperience in the medium up to this point.
This tool must be connected with Wikidata to work.