A French enamel plaque depicting Joachim and Anna meeting at the Golden Gate, attributed to the Penicaud workshop, after a design by Albrecht Dürer, Limoges, mid 16th century. Photo Sotheby's

in later ebonized wood and gilt copper mounted frame. 11 1/2 by 7 3/4 in.; 29.2 by 17.7 cm. Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 USD

Provenance: Sotheby's London, March 29, 1979, lot 172

RELATED LITERATURE  Rainer Schoch, Matthias Mende, Anna Scherbaum, et al., Albrecht Dürer, das druckgraphische Werk, vol. II, Munich, 2001, no. 169

A similar plaque of the same design is in the Musée du Louvre, inv. no. R 299, previously called Couly II Nouailher.

Dürer completed a 16-scene woodcut series on the Life of the Virgin, of which this scene is the only one bearing the artist's initials and date of completion, 1504.

Dürer's woodcuts, particularly those from his Little Passion series, and the copies of this series made by Marcantonio Raimondi, were hugely influential on 16th century enamel painters. Dürer's Little Passion was published in 1511, the same year as his series of the Life of the Virgin.

Sotheby's. Important English and European Decorative Arts, New York | 09 Jun 2014 - http://www.sothebys.com/