The Holy Family in an Enclosed Garden
Albrecht Dürer German
Not on view
This drawing is a variation on a popular fifteenth-century theme in which the Madonna is portrayed seated in a rose garden or on a grassy bank. The arbor suggests the enclosed garden, or hortus conclusus, a visual metaphor for Mary’s virginity. Durer’s working technique - lightly sketched outlines, areas of parallel hatching to differentiate light and shadow, and little attempt at three-dimensionality - exemplifies his graphic production during the second decade of the fifteenth century.
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