The Annunciation, from "The Small Passion"

The Annunciation, from "The Small Passion" by Albrecht Dürer, created circa 1510, is a masterful example of the German Renaissance artist's celebrated graphic output. This small-format woodcut comes from Dürer's influential "Small Passion" series, which contained 37 individual prints depicting the life of Christ. Intended for wide distribution and private devotion, these prints helped establish Dürer's reputation as the preeminent printmaker of his time. Dürer’s unparalleled technical skill transformed the traditional woodcut medium from a rudimentary illustration tool into a vehicle for high artistic expression, characterized by intricate detail and sophisticated shading achieved solely through black line work.

The composition captures the sacred moment of the Annunciation, where the Archangel Gabriel appears before the Virgin Mary to deliver the news of the Incarnation. Dürer depicts the setting with domestic intimacy, placing the Virgin kneeling in a quiet interior, yet maintains the spiritual gravitas required of the subject through dynamic light and shadow. The piece illustrates the revolutionary cultural period when easily reproducible prints allowed complex religious imagery to reach a far wider audience than traditional panel paintings.

While smaller than his earlier series, "The Small Passion" solidified Dürer's international status and profoundly influenced subsequent generations of German and Northern European artists. Complete sets of these individual prints, including The Annunciation, are considered seminal artifacts of the Northern Renaissance. A superb impression of this historic woodcut is held within the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, serving as a key reference for scholars examining the history of prints and devotional art. Given its age and public status, the image is frequently available in the public domain for scholarly study and appreciation.