DÜRER, Albrecht
(b. 1471, Nürnberg, d. 1528, Nürnberg)

Madonna Nursing

1519
Engraving, 115 x 73 mm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Michelangelesque monumentality and gloom here replace the Raphaelesque equilibrium of loveliness and solemnity of the Madonna Crowned by Two Angels. The group detaches itself from the solid background like sculpture projecting from a wall. The figure of the Virgin is composed of two block-like units, the lower one resembling an enormous cube. The emphasis is here shifted from linear values and dynamic movement to schematised volume.