Virgin Crowned by an Angel

The boundary between heaven and earth is obscured in this engraving as an angel descends to crown the Virgin with a simple diadem. Although she is plainly dressed and sits on a simple wooden bench, Dürer portrays Mary as the Queen of Heaven. Her direct gaze communicates her role as an intermediary with God for the sake of humankind. Like his <em>Virgin with the Swaddled Child</em> of the same year, Dürer employed a halo emitting dense striations of light to emphasize the Virgin’s holiness. He considered the two part of a set of three engravings and gave several away during his journey to the Netherlands from 1520 to 1521.