|
Some critics dated the print after the second Italian journey 1507/08. The austerity of the mental conception which is particularly noticeable in comparison with the gay imagination of the other prints, is due without doubt to the subject matter, and the pose and the classical treatment of the drapery in the figure of Christ, so reminiscent of sculpture, needed no fresh inspiration from southern art. The handling of form in its relation to space leaves no doubt as to the date being about 1505, as is proved by a glance at the painting The Adoration of the Magi in Florence of the year 1504, this cut standing in a similar relation to this picture as the other prints of the Life of the Virgin do to the Paumgartner Altar.
|
