Haller Madonna
Haller Madonna | |
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Artist | Albrecht Dürer |
Year | before 1505 |
Medium | Oil on panel |
Dimensions | 50 cm × 40 cm (20 in × 16 in) |
Location | National Gallery of Art, Washington |
The Haller Madonna is an oil painting by Albrecht Dürer, dating to between 1496 and 1499. It is now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.[1] The reverse also contains a full Dürer painting, entitled Lot and His Daughters.
Description
The Haller Madonna painting on the obverse depicts Mary and an athletic-looking, jowly Jesus, with a window looking out to a distant view.[1] This scheme is similar to that Giovanni Bellini's works, which Dürer had seen in his first sojourn in Venice (1494-1495).[1] It features coats of arms in the lower corners, both representing prominent families from Dürer's home town of Nuremberg, Germany. The left-hand arms are those of the house of Haller von Hallerstein, while the right-hand arms are for the Koberger family.[1] In the mid-20th century the work was acquired by Samuel Kress, who later donated it to the American museum of Washington.[citation needed]
When the painting was sold on the antiques market, it was attributed to Bellini; it was later assigned to the German painter due to the style of the landscape and the posture of the child, typical of northern European painting. The child holds a fruit, a symbol of the Original Sin; the red padding of the cushion, as well as the tassels, perhaps symbolize the blood of Jesus' Passion.[citation needed]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_-_Lot%27s_Flight_-_National_Gallery_of_Art.jpg/300px-Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_-_Lot%27s_Flight_-_National_Gallery_of_Art.jpg)
The reverse of the painting is also painted, with a picture known as Lot and His Daughters, showing a Biblical scene of Lot's flight from Sodom. It includes a landscape and a seascape with explosions of fire in the background.[2] Since the two scenes on either side of the artwork are unrelated, it has been suggested that the paintings are intended as private devotional images, each depicting one example of a just life and God's grace.[2] Another interpretation is that the panel was originally part of a diptych showing also the donor, with Lot and his children in the left panel.
References
- ^ a b c d "Madonna and Child [obverse]". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Lot and His Daughters [reverse]". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- Costantino Porcu, ed. (2004). Dürer. Milan: Rizzoli.
External links