Mösern im Tyrol

Max Pollak

An image of the Roman Catholic parish of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, or Pfarrkirche Maria Heimsuchung, under a blanket of deep winter snow. Located in the Mösern district of Telfs in Tirol, Austria, it dates to the 17th century and features an ornately shaped facade from the Baroque period. Mösern is known for its views of the Upper Inn Valley and the Stubaier Alps, and is often referred to as the "swallows' nest of Tirol". Tirol in winter was a primary subject for Max Pollak early in his career. He created several small etchings and drypoints of the villages whose roofs and bridges provided visual interest against vast fields of downy snow.

Coincidentally, Mösern hosted the artist Albrecht Dürer as he fled from the plague that had taken hold of his home town. Clearly taken with it's dramatic surroundings, he would later depict it in his "Self portrait at 26", now hanging in the Prado museum.