''Visitation'' is a 1503

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

by the

German Renaissance The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and sciences ...

artist

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

, from his series on the

Life of the Virgin The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the ...

. It depicts the Visitation, an episode in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

, when

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

, heavily pregnant, travels to see her much older cousin Elisabeth, who is now also late with child. The women embrace at the house of Elisabeth's husband Zacharias, who is shown standing at the doorway to the left of the woodcut. Both Zacharias and his wife are old; he is struck into silence by the fact of his long barren wife having finally conceived a child.Nürnberg, 67 The highly detailed landscape shown in the background is likely inspired by the artist's two journeys through the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

during 1494–95.

Notes

Sources

*Nürnberg, Verlag Hans Carl. ''Dürer in Dublin: Engravings and woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer''. Chester Beatty Library, 1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Visitation Prints by Albrecht Dürer Prints based on the Bible Prints of the Virgin Mary 16th-century prints Woodcuts Catholic engraving

See also

Notes

Sources