The First Foolish Virgin (1480-91): Artwork and History

The First Foolish Virgin (1480-91) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Martin Schongauer German, c. 1430/50-1491.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

In the late 15th century, Martin Schongauer engraved a series illustrating the Christian New Testament story of the five wise and five foolish virgins. In the prints from that series, two of the wise virgins hold aloft lamps filled with oil, demonstrating their preparedness for the Day of Judgment, whereas empty lamps dangle from the hands of two foolish virgins. As an allegory for remaining chaste and faithful to Christ, the wise virgins bind their hair with bridal wreaths, while the foolish virgins have thrown their wreaths upon the ground. Schongauer differentiated each of the figures with careful attention to the intricate drapery and delicate hands and facial features.

Object facts

• Title: The First Foolish Virgin
• Date: 1480-91
• Artist attribution: Martin Schongauer German, c. 1430/50-1491
• Place of origin: Germany
• Medium: Engraving on paper
• Dimensions: 12.3 × 8.7 cm (4 7/8 × 3 7/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1956.904

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

View the original

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.