Albrecht Dürer

Of the smaller, devotional woodcuts this is certainly one of the most beautiful. The movement of the Child Christ, as he climbs from his mother's lap to his grandmother creates a wonderful connection between the Virgin and her mother Anne, which is so different from the relation between the two in The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (lot 35) where Mary almost seems to pull the Christ Child away. Here Christ connects the two couples, Anne and Joachim at the left and Mary and Joseph at the right, and the two sides of the image, which are divided by the tree. The tree itself is carefully described, as is the sunlight which bathes the little scene. The whole image has an idyllic charm and friendly intimacy, which make the Holy Family approachable and human.