The Holy Family at a Fountain

This rare and exquisite woodcut by Albrecht Altdorfer depicts an unusual setting for the resting Holy Family on their flight into Egypt. Mary, Joseph, the Christ child and three angels are relegated to the periphery of the composition, while the real protagonists of the scene are the elegant, vaulted ceiling of a Gothic building - probably inspired by the synagogue in Regensburg - and an elaborate large fountain at centre, surmounted by a secular figure of a crouching male nude. Both the interior itself and the sculptural and decorative design of the fountain are a reminder of - and possibly an advertisement for - Altdorfer's occupation as an architect and designer of ornaments. Although it does not relate to any traditional iconography, a similarly elaborate fountain is depicted in Altdorfer's painting of the same subject (Berlin, Gemäldegalerie Alter Meister), and was replicated by a follower of the artist in a miniature for the prayer-book of Emperor Maximilian I of 1515.
This present, early impression is printed on a sheet with a Cardinal's Hat watermark, described by Winzinger as rare. The impression in the British Museum bears the same watermark (inv. no. 1895,0122.366).