The Birth of the Virgin - Albrecht Dürer
Archival giclée
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Description
A masterful woodcut from Albrecht Dürer's Life of the Virgin series, depicting the birth of Mary within a detailed sixteenth-century domestic interior.
The Birth of the Virgin is a woodcut from the series known as The Life of the Virgin, produced by Albrecht Dürer during the early sixteenth century. This work demonstrates the technical mastery Dürer brought to the medium of woodcut, moving beyond simple outlines to create complex tonal variations through dense hatching and cross-hatching. The scene depicts the interior of a domestic space, transformed into a site of sacred event. Saint Anne lies in a curtained bed, attended by midwives and visitors, while the infant Mary is bathed in the foreground. An angel hovers in the upper register, within a vaulted architectural frame, providing a supernatural element to the otherwise mundane setting of a sixteenth-century German household.
Dürer incorporates contemporary domestic details, such as the washbasin, the wooden staircase, and the specific attire of the figures, to ground the biblical narrative in a familiar reality. The composition is structured around the architectural lines of the room, which guide the viewer from the foreground activities toward the bedchamber. The artist uses light and shadow to define the volume of the figures and the depth of the space. The inclusion of his monogram, the AD tablet, is visible in the lower centre of the print. This series was highly popular during Dürer's lifetime, circulating widely across Europe and influencing the development of printmaking techniques. The work remains a primary example of the Northern Renaissance approach to religious art, where spiritual themes are interpreted through the lens of meticulous observation and technical precision. The print captures the daily life of the period, offering a glimpse into the material culture of the time while maintaining the gravity of the subject matter.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
The Birth of the Virgin - Albrecht Dürer
Artist Biography
Albrecht Durer
He was born in Nuremberg, the son of a Hungarian goldsmith. He trained as a goldsmith himself before apprenticing with the painter and printmaker Michael Wolgemut. The metalwork training gave him the manual precision that made his prints extraordinary. Melencolia I, Knight, Death and the Devil, and Saint Jerome in His Study, all made between 1513 and 1514, are among the finest engravings ever produced. The density of cross-hatching, the control of tonal gradation, the rendering of fur, feathers, and stone: these are virtuoso performances in a medium that most artists treated as reproductive.
He drew a rhinoceros from a description and a sketch sent by letter. He had never seen one. Dürer's Rhinoceros (1515) is anatomically wrong in several respects (the animal has an extra horn and armour plating) but it remained the standard European image of a rhinoceros for three centuries.
He was one of the first artists to paint self-portraits as a primary subject. The Self-Portrait at Twenty-Eight (1500) shows him facing the viewer directly, with long hair and a fur coat, in a pose traditionally reserved for Christ. It was either an act of supreme confidence or deliberate blasphemy. Probably both.
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