Dimensions: 11 5/8" x 8 1/4"; Framed: 23 13/16" x 20"
Catalogue reference: Bartsch 86, Meder 198

In Durer's time the "New Year" was celebrated on December 25th, Christ's birthday. The first day of January was the Feast Day of Christ's Circumcision. In Durer's woodcut, the action is shifted toward the right, strikingly counter-balanced by the single figure of a man on the left, bearing a great, tall, braided candle. He casts a backward glance, as he strides forward, symbolizing the coming of the new creed. The Virgin looks dejected - it is the first of her Seven Sorrows - while St. Josheph seeks to calm her.