Glorification of the Virgin, from The Life of the Virgin

Glorification of the Virgin, from The Life of the Virgin by Albrecht Dürer German, 1471-1528, is a powerful example of Northern Renaissance printmaking. Executed between 1502 and 1511, this piece is one of nineteen woodcuts comprising Dürer's celebrated series detailing the life of Mary. The medium is a woodcut in black ink applied to tan laid paper, a technique Dürer mastered and elevated to an unprecedented artistic level during his career in Germany.

The subject of this specific print, which concluded the series, typically depicts the Virgin Mary ascending or being crowned in heaven, surrounded by saints, angels, and apostles. Dürer’s approach combines meticulous draftsmanship with dramatic lighting and dynamic composition, characteristics that solidified his reputation across Europe. Unlike earlier printmakers, Dürer treated the woodcut matrix with the complexity and nuance traditionally reserved for copperplate engraving, giving this work a dense, painterly quality that profoundly influenced his contemporaries.

This exceptional example of early 16th-century German religious art is housed in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Given the age and significance of this work, Dürer's designs, particularly those from The Life of the Virgin, are frequently reproduced as fine art prints and are often found in public domain catalogs, ensuring the widespread study of this Renaissance master's groundbreaking innovations in the graphic arts.