Virgin and Child in a Landscape

The theme of the Virgin seated out-of-doors was a popular one in German art beginning in the early fifteenth century. Traditionally, Mary was set in an ideal garden environment, but here Altdorfer represents the Virgin in an open and natural landscape. This change of setting implies a change in attitude toward both nature and the religious subject. Both have become more natural and close to daily life. Altdorfer's setting gives us a sense of the weather, the sun, and the swiftly moving clouds that project their shadows over the scene. In both his paintings and prints, Altdorfer was one of the first German artists to take a particular interest in landscape as a setting for figural subjects and later as an independent subject matter.