Albrecht Dürer - The Virgin and Child on a grassy bank, crowned by an angel c.1515 - RCIN 912176

This beautiful drawing shows the Virgin sitting calmly on a turf bench, with the Christ Child on a cushion on her knee. Above, an elegantly twisting angel bears a tall crown. The Child has a flower in his right hand, while a small bird flies around his head, tied to a cord held in the Child's left hand. The bird is probably a goldfinch, which was believed to have been splashed with Christ's blood on the road to Calvary, retaining a red spot around its beak. Inscribed with Dürer's monogram and the date 1515, not in the hand of the artist.