The Virgin and Child Crowned by Two Angels above a Landscape (landscape trimmed out) 1504

Albrecht Dürer made this circular woodcut of the Virgin and Child sometime in the late 15th or early 16th century. It depicts Mary holding Jesus as two angels hover above them, placing a crown on Mary's head. Dürer was from Nuremberg, then a leading centre of the German Renaissance. His prints, like this one, were produced and sold in large numbers across Europe, thanks to the development of printmaking technologies. The print medium allowed artists to circulate their ideas widely and to build reputations across Europe. The rise of the print market went hand-in-hand with the rise of a new class of art collectors. The imagery in the print is carefully calibrated. The Virgin Mary was seen as the Queen of Heaven. By depicting the Virgin Mary in domestic mode, Dürer created an intimate image of great appeal to contemporary audiences, but this tender image also reinforced the importance of family values and women’s domestic role. Historians draw on a range of sources when interpreting artworks, including letters, diaries, literature, and economic data. All of these can help us better understand the cultural and social contexts that shaped its meaning.