Albrecht Dürer
German, 1471-1528
Holy Family with Dragonfly, c. 1495
Engraving

Situated within a vast and detailed landscape, Mary and the Christ child gaze affectionately at one another. Jesus’ plump face turns away from the viewer, but we get a glimpse of the baby’s profile. A wide eye with long lashes looks up to meet Mary’s loving gaze. Though technically a Holy Family scene, Albrecht Dürer highlights the relationship between Mother and Child. Joseph, slumped over, fast asleep on the left, commands little visual attention.

Jesus and Mary lack traditional divine signifiers, such as halos or emanating light—it is the commanding figure of God, the Father and the Holy Spirit emerging from billowing clouds directly above that supports their identification. Virgin and Child images were tremendously popular in the medieval and early modern periods for their potential to inspire devotion and facilitate prayer. This spectacular print is an early example of Dürer’s engraving work. It is the first original print in which Dürer included his monogram, and the only instance in which the ‘d’ of his name takes the lower-case form.