(1720-1778)

In The Virgin with a Pear, Dürer used the pear to represent 'peace', as opposed to the apple, the symbol of 'discord'. The pear was a popular symbol, appearing in several of Dürer's works and had certainly been known from the thirteenth century onwards, since it occurs as an attribute of the Virgin in a sculpture at Chartres Cathedral.

There is also a pen drawing for this engraving, Madonna by a tree, c.1511 (Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin).

Copyright © Trustees of Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.

Extract taken from Prints, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery .

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