Description
The work was initially commissioned by Jakob Fugger, an intermediary between emperor Maximilian I and Pope Julius II, during the painter’s stay as the banker’s guest in Augsburg, though it was produced whilst the painter was in Venice.
The contract was renewed in the Italian city by the fraternity of traders from Nuremberg (Dürer’s hometown) and from other German cities, the latter being supported by the Fugger family. These traders were particularly active in the Fondaco dei Tedeschi and their fraternity had been founded in Strasbourg by Jakob Sprenger in 1474. According to the contract, the painting was to be finished before May 1506 and then hung in the German national church in Venice, San Bartolomeo on the Rialto. It also stated it was to portray the Feast of the Rosary – German expatriates in Venice were particularly devoted to Our Lady of the Rosary.
Bibliography
Feast of the Rosary, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Feast_of_the_Rosary&oldid=1079213814 (last visited Aug. 9, 2022).