ticketsMember | Make a donation

The Holy Family

1512–13
Not on view
Dürer created only three prints in the medium of drypoint. Since the other two are dated 1512, this drypoint is presumed to date from the same time. The print was thus produced at the height of the artist's career, just prior to such famous "master prints" as the Melancholia and Knight, Death, and the Devil. Yet the composition harks back to one of the artist's earliest engravings, produced when Dürer was under the influence of the most prolific drypoint artist of the Renaissance, the Housebook Master.
Produced by scratching the surface of the metal with a sharp needle, the image has the character of a delicate drawing. Apparently conceived in an experimental mode and never completed, the print is nonetheless highly evocative. The three ghostly figures who press into the space behind the Virgin and Child—Saint John, the Magdelene, and Nicodemus—do not belong to the story of Christ's childhood but, as witnesses to the Crucifixion, are a presentiment of his future suffering. The soft shadow produced by the drypoint burr shrouds the figures and deepens the melancholy atmosphere.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Holy Family
  • Artist: Albrecht Dürer (German, Nuremberg 1471–1528 Nuremberg)
  • Date: 1512–13
  • Medium: Drypoint
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 8 1/4 x 7 1/8 in. (21 x 18.1 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1919
  • Object Number: 19.73.51
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Opera Alberti Dureri. Das ist / Alle Bücher des weitberühmbten... .cont.: Underweysung der messung [. . .] vier Bücher von menschlicher Proportion; Etliche underricht /zu befestigung// der Stett/ Schloss und flecken
Albrecht Dürer
Johannes Janssonius
1603–4
Di Alberto Durero Pittore, e Geometra. . .della Simmetria dei Corpi Humani, Libri Quattro Nuouamente Tradotti dalla Lingua Latina nella Italiana
Multiple artists/makers
1591
The Nativity, from The Life of the Virgin, Latin Edition, 1511, Albrecht Dürer German, Woodcut
The Nativity, from The Life of the Virgin, Latin Edition, 1511
Albrecht Dürer
1511
Tractatus de horis Canonicis
Multiple artists/makers
June 8, 1514
Masquerade Dance with Torches, Albrecht Dürer German, Woodcut; Dershau restrike, 1922
Masquerade Dance with Torches
Albrecht Dürer
1922

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.