Virgin and Child

Virgin and Child was clearly meant to be seen from a distance. The large, uncluttered composition allows the flowing lines to stand out. Its creator, Sebald Beham, meant it for public devotion of the Madonna. He used simple patterns of lines to make the cutting of the printing block quicker and cheaper, an important consideration for a work of art intended for a middle-class market. Most examples were probably affixed to walls and have long since perished from exposure to weather, insects, and vandalism. Of the hundreds printed, only about a dozen survive. The enclosure within which Mary sits is the hortus conclusis, the enclosed garden that separates her from the outside world, symbolizing a sort of new Eden for the pure Virgin. Common in late-medieval Marian iconography, the idea echoes the Songs of Solomon (4:12): A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed.