The Elevation of Saint Mary Magdalene

c. 1504/1505

Albrecht Dürer

Associated Names
Albrecht Dürer

Artist, German, 1471 - 1528

This print shows a woman standing with her feet together and her hands clasped at her chest. She appears to be floating in the air, her feet hovering above the rocky outcrop at the bottom of the print. She is nude, but her long, flowing hair wraps across her body, covering her groin and one of her breasts. She looks off to the left, her head slightly tilted, and there is a halo behind her head that is radiating light. Several small cherub-like figures with wings surround the woman, appearing to support her and lift her upwards. The background below her includes hills, rocks, and trees by a wide body of water. On the left, a robed person in the distance looks upward, observing her ascent. The sky is empty except for a few small birds.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to block): 21.6 × 14.7 cm (8 1/2 × 5 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.3598

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Meder, no. 237

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Junius Spencer Morgan [1867-1932], Princeton and Paris (Lugt 1536); gift to Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Lugt 1943 and Lugt 1808h [duplicate stamp]); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1760b and Lugt 1932d), 1937; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1990

  • Eva/Ave: Woman in Renaissance and Baroque Prints, NGA, 1990, no. 57, repro.

Bibliography

1932

  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971: no. 237.

1990

  • Russell 1990, cat.no.57.

2001

  • Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 2: no. 139.

Inscriptions

in block, bottom left, on tablet: AD [artist's monogram]; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: 19.73.1.44; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: D.I.285.29 / B.VII.141.121; verso, lower right, in graphite by a later hand: B 121; verso, lower left, in graphite by a later hand: NR [?] 34222; verso, bottom left, in graphite by a later hand: J.S.M.

Watermarks

imperial eagle

Wikidata ID

Q18339733

You may be interested in

Loading Results