The Virgin and child seated by the wall.

This engraving depicts the Virgin seated on some stone steps with the Christ child in her lap. The wall behind her leads the eye through to distant buildings, one of which has been identified as Nuremberg Castle - this is the city in which Dürer lived and made this print. An outdoor setting in identifiable surroundings was an important advance in the representation of the Virgin and child, making them more human and relevant to the period.

Northern and Southern Renaissance art
The Madonna by the wall is an important example of the confluence of ideas that informed Dürer's work. The figures of the mother and child dominate the image by their central position in the foreground. The tenderness between them is emphasised by the enveloping garments in which the Virgin is swathed. Elements of both Northern and Southern Renaissance art are brought together in this image. The calm centrality of the figures against the landscape background is reminiscent of the Madonnas of Raphael, which Dürer would have known through prints, while the sculptural angularity of the folds of the Virgin's garments and her position against a blank stone wall are reminiscent of statuary on Gothic cathedrals.

Critics regard this as one of Dürer's greatest engravings. It is transitional from the technique of deep black lines to a more even-tempered, silvery mat texture. Its mood is almost tragic, akin to that of the very famous engraving Melencolia I, perhaps prompted by the death of Dürer's mother (see below). It shows a unique variety of texture resulting in a colouristic effect. It also represents a perfect coincidence of apparent opposites: the Madonna is regal, virginal, yet humble and motherly. Its utmost precision of design is combined with incomparable softness of texture.

This engraving dates from 1514, the year of Barbara Dürer's death. This event probably brought about the greatest concentration of works on the subject of the Virgin and Child in Dürer's oeuvre. In this year, at least six drawings of the theme are recorded, together with two engravings: Madonna by the Wall  and The Virgin on the Crescent with a Diadem, also in the Te Papa Collection (1952-0003-19). 

Engraving technique
The image is produced by an engraving technique that involves marking a metal plate with a burin or other tool to create a line in the surface. This is then filled with ink and passed through a press together with a piece of paper.

One of six
The Madonna by the wall is one of a group of six Virgin and child engravings by Dürer which are part of the Monrad collection of some 600 prints, gifted to the Colonial Museum in 1869 by the Danish Bishop Dietlev Monrad.

See Web Gallery of Art, http://www.wga.hu/html_m/d/durer/2/13/4/078.html.

Tony Mackle, updated by Dr Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art, December 2016