The Descent from the Cross, from "The Small Passion"
Original title: The Descent from the Cross, from "The Small Passion"
kurzbeschreibung
Around 1509 Albrecht Dürer made this woodcut as part of his 'Small Passion'. It presents the Descent from the Cross, with several other figures gathered around, and is carried out in the dense linework that distinguishes Dürer's prints.
Description
The eye is drawn at once to the slanting body of Christ, whose arms are bound. Beside him stands a woman holding a cross, as if steadying him. Other figures bearing tools and objects are spread across the surface. At the top of the cross appears the inscription 'INRI'. The arrangement reads as symmetrical: Christ at the middle, the remaining figures to either side. Black and white dominate, and the light falls evenly, built up from the hatching and lines of the woodcut.
Context
Between 1509 and 1511 Dürer produced the 'Small Passion', a series of 37 woodcuts on the life and suffering of Christ. It ranks among the best-known print works of the Renaissance and circulated widely. Dürer was active in Nuremberg, where he had established himself as a leading artist.
Impact
The clear linework and balanced arrangement give the sheet a calm, dignified presence. The grief and care of the figures come across forcefully through the precision of the woodcut technique.
Technique
The absence of color in this woodcut concentrates expression entirely in the interplay of black lines and white space, so that Christ's suffering is conveyed through the density and direction of hatching rather than through tonal painting. Variation in line depth and closeness produces the contrasts that model the figures symmetrically around the center, giving the sheet its clear Renaissance structure.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)