Virgin and Child with the Patron Saints of Constance

Virgin and Child with the Patron Saints of Constance

Hans Burgkmair

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

At center, the Virgin, holding the Christ Child under an arch, is flanked by Saint Conrad at left and Saint Pelagius at right. Below, two angels support the coat of arm of Bishop Hugo of Hohenlandenberg. This second state was used as the frontispiece of the Constance Missal (Missale Constantiense) published by Erhard Ratdolt in Augsburg on October 8, 1505. The first state, in which Pelagius has a beard and hat and the date 1499 appears at bottom center, was also used as a frontispiece, as part of the Breviarium Constantiense published by Ratdolt in 1499.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Virgin and Child with the Patron Saints of ConstanceVirgin and Child with the Patron Saints of ConstanceVirgin and Child with the Patron Saints of ConstanceVirgin and Child with the Patron Saints of ConstanceVirgin and Child with the Patron Saints of Constance

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.