Live Auction 7375The Genius of the German Renaissance: Prints by Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Lot 45

Albrecht Dürer

Christ taking leave from His Mother, from The Life of the Virgin (B. 92; M., Holl. 204; S.M.S. 182)

Closed4 December 2007

Price Realised

GBP 17,300

Considering selling a similar item?

Discover its value with a complimentary estimate from our specialists.

More Information

How to sell

Albrecht Dürer
Christ taking leave from His Mother, from The Life of the Virgin (B. 92; M., Holl. 204; S.M.S. 182)
woodcut, circa 1504, a fine, early proof before the Latin text edition of 1511, watermark High Crown (M. 20), trimmed on, to or just outside the borderline, in excellent condition
S. 295 x 208 mm.

F. von Hagens (L. 1052 a).
F. Somary (his stamp verso, not in Lugt).

Specialist note

The woodcut of Christ taking leave from his Mother, a moment in the Life of the Virgin that is described neither in the Gospels nor the Apocrypha, is one of the more overt references to the Passion of Christ in the series. The group of figures comprising the Virgin, Martha and Mary Magdalene is very much reminiscent of a Lamentation. However Dürer has refrained from depicting any actual scenes from the Passion within the Life of the Virgin, thereby breaking with tradition, which would have seen the inclusion of the Betrayal, the Flagellation, the Crucifixion and the Death of Christ as four of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.