The Feast of the Rosary (German: Rosenkranzfest) is a 1506 oil painting by Albrecht Dürer, now in the National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic.
[5] The pope and the emperor, then considered to be the supreme authorities of the Catholic world, have taken off the papal tiara and the imperial crown respectively and are shown kneeling before the Virgin to receive the Christ Child's blessing.
[7] Other angels are distributing crowns of flowers, as well as St. Dominic of Guzman (protector of the adoration of Mary and of the Rosary), who stands at the side of the Virgin.
Near the left border is the patriarch of Venice, Antonio Soriano, with the hands joined, and, next to him, Burkard von Speyer, then chaplain of the church of San Bartolomeo, who was also portrayed by Dürer in another painting.
On the right, near a lush Alpine landscape, is the artist's self-portrait with a cartouche in his hand: here is the signature with a short inscription,[a] reporting the time needed to complete the work.
[5] The characters next to the painter are likely Leonhard Vilt, founder of the Brotherhood of the Rosary in Venice, and (in black) Hieronymus of Augsburg, the architect of the new Fondaco dei Tedeschi.
[12] David Rothenberg notes that the painting Feast of the Rosary is a "direct visual counterpart" to the motet Virgo Prudentissima by Heinrich Isaac (written in 1507 for the Reichstag in Konstanz and for Maximilian's 1508 coronation as Holy Roman Emperor): "The most prudent Virgin thus crowns the Wise King with a rose garland at the very moment when she herself is about to be crowned Queen of Heaven."
Both the motet and the painting reflect the idea that the White King (Weisskunig) claimed his legitimacy directly from the Queen of Heaven and not through mediation by the Church.