Holy Family with the Butterfly

Description

Dürer’s earliest engraving of the Virgin and Child theme features the
Madonna seated on a grassy bench in an enclosed garden, a traditional
subject alluding to her virginity. The divine presence of God the
Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove overhead reinforces
her sacred role as the mother of the Messiah, while Joseph, idly
napping to the side, imparts a sense of domesticity and humanity to
the scene. Because Dürer returned to this theme continuously
throughout his career, it is possible to track his artistic
development in engraving. For example, Joseph’s awkward proportions
reveal Dürer’s relative inexperience in the medium up to this point.

Museum Label

Holy Family with the Butterfly, c. 1495. Albrecht Dürer (German,
1471–1528). Engraving; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs.
Severance A. Millikin 1989.231

Exhibition History

– The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).
– Dürer's Women: Images of Devotion and Desire. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 28, 2014).

Catalogue Raisonné

Meder 42

External References

wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3944475
internet_archive: https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1989.231-holy-family-with-the

CMA page: https://clevelandart.org/art/1989.231