Die Madonna auf der Mondsichel mit einem knienden Ritter als Stifter 

Sebald Beham created this ink drawing of the Virgin and Child with a kneeling donor in the first half of the sixteenth century. The circular composition is divided between the supplicant on the left and the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child on the right. The artist’s use of line is particularly striking, varying in thickness to create areas of light and shadow that model form and guide the viewer's eye. The donor's posture, kneeling with hands clasped in prayer, directs attention towards the Virgin, who stands on a crescent moon—a symbolic representation of her purity. The composition can be understood through semiotics. The knight embodies worldly power and chivalry, while the Madonna represents divine grace. By positioning the knight in a subservient posture before the Virgin, Beham constructs a visual statement about the relationship between earthly authority and spiritual power. The image can be seen as a negotiation between medieval religious symbolism and the emerging humanist values of the Renaissance.