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Lot Essay
This is the second version of the Virgin on a Crescent in Dürer's engraved oeuvre and arguably the most splendid. Here, with her starry crown and the sceptre, the Virgin is truly the Apocalyptic Woman, as Saint John saw her in his vision: And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed in the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars (Revelation 12. 1).
Of the present first state, with the large outer nimbus not yet completed, only three impression are recorded: Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin; British Museum, London; and Paris (formerly Galichon Collection).
Of the present first state, with the large outer nimbus not yet completed, only three impression are recorded: Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin; British Museum, London; and Paris (formerly Galichon Collection).