Christ Blessing The Virgin

The Virgin Mary and Jesus sit enthroned as co-rulers of heaven, though the orb in his hand indicates that he is the ultimate power. Mary joins her hands in prayer as he raises his right hand to bless her. The image is typical of Marian devotion, which saw Mary as a powerful intercessor for those seeking God’s mercy, in times of plague, famine, and other afflictions. Mary was reaching peak popularity in Germany about the time when Schongauer made this exquisite engraving. A generation later, Martin Luther and other German reformers would push back hard against such devotion.