The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 9, 2023

The Life of the Virgin

Christ Taking Leave of His Mother

c. 1504–1505

Part of a set. See all set records

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)

Germany, early 16th Century

Woodcut

Dudley P. Allen Fund 1959.99.17

Catalogue raisonné: Meder 204 a

Location

not on view

Description

These two woodcuts (1959.99.16-17) feature events that overlap in both Mary’s and Jesus’s lives. The first is a scene in which Mary finds Jesus, after days of searching, speaking from behind a lectern to the temple’s elders. The second refers to the the moment Mary was forced to say goodbye to her son as he leaves for Jerusalem and ultimately on to the events of his Passion. This print represents the most sorrowful episode of the series as Mary kneels, beseeching Jesus to stay.

Citations
Dürer, Albrecht. The Life of the Virgin. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1959. Reproduced: p. 17, Plate 17 archive.org
Exhibition history

CMA 1996: Sets and Series: Five Centuries of Master Prints, February 20-May 5, 1996, no cat.

Albrecht Dürer - 500th Anniversary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 19-March 28, 1971).

Durer. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (organizer) (April 6-May 8, 1971).

Dürer’s Women: Images of Devotion and Desire. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 28, 2014).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1959.99.17