Executed over several years, the Life of the Virgin does not seem to have been initially conceived as a group. It was probably only after creating a few of the images that Dürer thought of publishing the whole. Despite this, the series has a unity of spirit and tone which is masterful. Throughout the set the Virgin is conceived of as an intermediary between the divine and the earthly. She is a woman with human frailties—note her urge to run up the stairs of the temple and concern at the circumcision—and yet just as surely she is marked by God.

The whole of the series is marked by virtuoso use of line and superb cutting. Dürer makes use of classical and contemporary motifs and a distinctly northern landscape which serves to bring the images closer to the audience.

From German 16th Century Prints. Victoria: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1983