Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by Durer Magnet

Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by Albrecht Durer, 1519, is an oil and tempera painting depicting the sleeping Christ child with the Virgin Mary and saint. The incisive, detailed drawing and solid, sculptural modeling combine with warm, vivid colors and the shining whiteness of St. Anne’s hood and robe to create an icon of Northern Renaissance religious art. Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a German painter of the Northern Renaissance whose work as an engraver, printmaker, mathematician and theorist secured his reputation as one of the greatest artists of Europe. His many paintings, portraits, altarpieces, watercolors, and engravings were the first in the Northern Renaissance to use classical motifs from antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. Durer’s unparalleled skill in drawing and engraving as well as mastery of perspective allowed him rapid execution of a range of motifs which elicit universal admiration to this day.