In 1511, the second of Durer’s large works engraved on wood appeared at Nuremberg. It is generally entitled the History of the Virgin, and consists of nineteen large cuts, each about eleven inches and three quarters high, by eight inches and a quarter wide, with a vignette of smaller size which ornaments the title-page.[V-24] Impressions are to be found without any accompanying text, but the greater number have explanatory verses printed from type at the back. The cut here represented is a reduced copy of the vignette on the title-page. The Virgin is seen seated on a crescent, giving suck to the infant Christ; and her figure and that of the child are drawn with great feeling. Of all Durer’s Madonnas, whether engraved on wood or copper, this, perhaps, is one of the best. Her attitude is easy and natural, and happily expressive of the character in which she is represented--that of a nursing mother. The light and shade are well contrasted; and the folds of her ample drapery, which Durer was fond of introducing whenever he could, are arranged in a manner which materially contributes to the effect of the engraving. [Footnote V-24: The title at length is as follows: “Epitome in Divæ Parthenices Marie Historiam ab Alberto Durero Norico per figuras digestam, cum versibus annexis Chelidonii.” Chelidonius, who was a Benedictine monk of Nuremberg, also furnished the descriptive text to the series of twelve cuts illustrative of Christ’s Passion, of which specimens will be found between page 246 and page 250.] [Illustration]