Description
A watercolor drawing dated 1503 (in the Albertina, Vienna) by the German master Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was the source for the composition, but the style is from around 1600 at which time there was a kind of "Dürer revival" in Germany and the Netherlands The drawing was then owned by Emperor Rudolf II in Prague who commissioned copies or adaptations from artists at his court. Painting on copper creates an enamel-like surface that satisfied collector's taste for refinement. The idyllic image of the Virgin playing with the infant Christ in a landscape full of varied detail was popular in the early 1500s when landscapes began their evolution from just background to independent compositions.
Further analysis within the "Chamber of Wonders" installation and bibliography
Results