The Circumcision

Albrecht Durer, German, 1471 - 1528

The Circumcision

Woodcut

ca. 1505, 1511 edition

Woodcut

11 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. (29.8 x 20.9 cm)

1983.001.009

Albrecht Durer was the greatest and most innovative printmaker of the Renaissance. A native of Nuremberg, Germany, he had established an international reputation by the beginning of the sixteenth century with the publication of three woodcut series, including the Life of the Virgin. In Durer's hands the woodcut came to rival the technique of engraving in its subtle modeling and intricate detail. The narrative sophistication of his prints repaid extended contemplation on the part of the viewer, and his work was avidly collected by connoisseurs and widely copied by contemporary artists.

The Life of the Virgin

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen H. Loeb

Prints by Albrecht Durer, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California, May 1-May 25, 1958|
Woodcuts by Albrecht Durer: An Exhibition of Print Connoisseurship, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, April 8 - June 7, 1986|
Invention and Revival: Northern European Prints, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 12 - May 15, 2005

John Howett, Woodcuts by Albrecht Durer: An Exhibition of Print Connoisseurship (Atlanta: Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, 1986), 51.

© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Bruce M. White, 2008.

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