Description:Created c. 1509, this early woodcut is from the series ‘The Small Passion’ printed on a fine laid paper. A fine dark lifetime proof impression before the Latin text edition with thread margins, this work is monogrammed in the block ‘AD’ on the slate in the lower right. The original wood block is in the British Museum, London.
Focusing the viewer’s attention upon the emaciated body of Christ, the artist creates a sense of torture and loss. Practically all the figures in the image turn their heads or cover their faces in shame or grief. The artist’s intense use of detail in rendering the body of Christ heightens the visceral quality of emotion exhibited within the piece.
Of this print Walter L. Strauss has stated that Dürer “concentrates on the figure of the Magdalene, in the foreground, on her knees, who symbolizes extreme grief in a stance that is immediately comprehensible to the widest possible audience” (Strauss, 378).
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work):
1. Barlow, T.D., Woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer, 1948, listed as plate 68. and discussed on page 23.
2. Kurth, Dr. Willi, The Complete Woodcuts of Albrecth Dürer, 1963, listed as plate 246 and discussed on page 30 - 31.
3. Meder, J. (1932). Dürer-Katalog. Verlag Gilhofer & Ranschburg: Wien. Listed as catalogue raisonné no. 149.
4. Strauss, W. L. (1980). Albrecht Dürer Woodcuts and Woodblocks. Abaris Books: New York. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 124 on pgs. 378-9.
5. Scheller, Robert W. and Boon, Karel G., The Graphic Art of Albrecht Dürer, Hans Durer and The Durer School, listed on page 112 and page 126 as plate 149.
About the Framing:
This work is displayed in a dark wood frame with gold leaf detailing around the inner and outer edges of the molding. The work is presented with recessed white silk mattes and a delicate inner gold fillet which accentuates the tonal qualities of the paper. Featuring the artist’s plaque along the lower border of the moulding, the work is set in white, linen-wrapped mats with a matching inner fillet; set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover.
