# The Virgin Seated at the Foot of a Tree

- By: Jan Gossaert (Flemish, c. 1475/78–1532)
- Date: 1522
- Medium: engraving
- Classification: Print
- Dimensions: Sheet: 12 x 8.5 cm (4 3/4 x 3 3/8 in.)
- Culture: Flanders
- Credit line: Dudley P. Allen Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.138)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/1953.138/1953.138_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Jan Gossaert, a court painter from the southern Netherlands, knew Albrecht Dürer’s prints early on (having used some motifs in his paintings) but didn’t produce engravings himself until after Dürer’s 1520–21 journey to the Netherlands. Though unclear if they met in person, Dürer visited Gossaert’s town and brought engravings for trade and gifting. This engraving, the first Gossaert ever made, references Dürer’s many Virgin Mary and Christ child engravings without copying any one composition. Gossaert adopted Dürer’s tablet with date and monogram. The uneven execution confirms that it was an experimental first attempt at the technique.