1521
Chalk drawing on green primed paper, 414 x 288 mm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin
The chalk drawing was an individual study for a planned monumental Madonna with saints, of which six preliminary drawings exist. The figure of St Apollonia appears on two of these studies. The drawing depicts a moment of spiritualization: St Apollonia is portrayed as a young woman who appears to be imbued with inner concentration. She is portrayed in so individual a style that it is still disputed whether Dürer used a model or created an ideal figure from his imagination.
