The Engagement of the Virgin

Michael Pacher was the greatest South Tyrolean painter and sculptor of the fifteenth century, uniquely synthesizing Italian Renaissance perspective with Northern European naturalism in his revolutionary altarpieces. This The Engagement of the Virgin was created around 1495 and is now held at the Belvedere. The tempera medium required careful preparation on a gessoed panel and a disciplined layering technique that produced precise, durable surfaces suited to the intricate detail expected of devotional painting.

Oil on panel with Pacher's characteristic integration of perspectival space with meticulous Northern surface detail. The work demonstrates the artistic qualities characteristic of Michael Pacher's mature period.