THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN
Circa 1503 – 1504
Sheet 4 from the series “The Life of the Virgin”
With monogram
298×210 mm
Handbooks:
Impression in the Museum collections
Between 1505 and 1511
Watermark:
a balance in a circle
Provenance:
State Hermitage;
Rumyantsev Museum since 1862;
in the Museum since 1924
Inv. Г-2243
Comments:
it is one of the early impressions, made after the second Dürer's journey to Italy, but before the edition with text; between 1505 and 1511. It is dated by watermark (M. 192, I, b)
Other impressions in the Museum collections:
Inv. Г-2244, on paper with a watermark: a bull's head (M. 62; Br. 14.881–14.883; 1441–1481). One of the first impressions made before the second Dürer's journey to Italy, in 1504. It is dated by watermark (M. 192, I, a). The sheet is strongly trimmed (the top corners are rounded following the line of the arch)
