Master painter, draftsman and printmaker Albrecht Dürer was among the most influential of the northern Renaissance artists. He brought the artistic philosophies of proportion and perspective popular in the southern Renaissance of Italy back to his hometown of Nuremberg, Germany. These aspects of the Renaissance are perhaps best embodied in his prints, a medium through which he achieved exceptional detail. This image from his 1511 Large Passion series originally accompanied by text on the title page, prefaced eleven other prints depicting the suffering of Christ and his ultimate sacrifice. Intended to inspire devotion and empathy in viewers, Dürer portrays Jesus with his hands clasped in prayerful anguish as the scowling Roman soldier mocks his claim to divine kingship.
View the Curator’s Corner video on this piece.
