Detail View: The AMICA Library: The Virgin of the Apocalypse

AMICA ID: 
MMA_.1982.47.1
AMICA Library Year: 
2002
Object Type: 
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Description: 

This panel refers to the woman described in the Apocalypse?"a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation 12:1). Here, the Virgin wears a crown and the hem of her garment falls over a crescent moon. Images of the Virgin as the woman of the Apocalypse became extremely popular in the late 1400s and were produced in large numbers after Sixtus IV granted an indulgence of 11,000 years for each specific prayer said in front of one of them. Mary was often called the second Eve, who, by giving birth to Christ, brought redemption to humankind.

The softness and delicacy of the figures, as well as the unmannered, free use of line, place this panel in the immediate circle of the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet, arguably the greatest graphic artist active in northern Europe before Albrecht Dürer.

Creator Name: 
Circle of the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet
Creator Nationality: 
European; Northern European; German; Rhinelandish
Creator Dates/Places: 
German; Middle Rhineland active 1470?90
Creator Name-CRT: 
Circle of the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet
Title: 
The Virgin of the Apocalypse
View: 
Principal view
Creation Date: 
ca. 1480?1490
Creation Start Date: 
1480
Creation End Date: 
1490
Materials and Techniques: 
Colorless glass, silver stain, and vitreous paint
Dimensions: 
13 7/8 x 9 1/2 in. (35.2 x 24.1 cm)
AMICA Contributor: 
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: 
New York, New York
ID Number: 
1982.47.1
Credit Line: 
The Cloisters Collection, 1982
Copyright: 
Copyright ? 2002 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved.
Rights: 
Related Image Identifier Link: 
MMA_.h1_1982.47.1.tif