Christ before Pilate
Print
1512 (engraved)
1512 (engraved)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
The Engraved Passion (1507-1512) was one of four major series of religious prints made by Dürer, and helped to establish his reputation as an outstanding Renaissance printmaker. The others were the woodcut series of the Life of the Virgin, the Great Passion, and the Little Passion, all published in 1511. The Engraved Passion consists of fifteen small scale engravings and tells the story of Christ's betrayal by Judas, his crucifixion and resurrection. Dürer is renowned for inventing new and imaginative ways to depict scenes from Christian stories, and in the Engraved Passion the compositions of each plate are dramatic, intricate and complex, with emotive contrasts of light and shadow. Unlike the more populist woodcut prints, they were designed to appeal to a more exclusive market of connoisseurs and collectors. Because it took several years for the series to be completed, it is likely that individual images were sold separately. The series was also sold in sets for devotional use, and was widely copied by other printmakers and in other media.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Christ before Pilate (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Engraving on paper |
Brief description | Christ before Pilate; plate from 'The Engraved Passion' by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528); engraving |
Physical description | Engraving by Albrecht Dürer, 'Christ Before Pilate'; 1512, Nuremberg. Plate 5 from 'The Engraved Passion'. Date and artist's monogram inscribed at lower right. Manhandled by guards, Christ stands before the Roman governor Pilate, who wears a turban in orientalist style. Between them is a woman pointing at Jesus, bearing false witness. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Marks and inscriptions | '1512 / AD' (Dated on pillar with monogram below at lower right) |
Credit line | Salting Bequest |
Historical context | Plate 5 from 'The Engraved Passion'. 'For the engraving Dürer revosed a still extant preparatory sketch (SD. p.2456) executed in pen and ink, and of approximately the same format. The engraving also bears a considerable resemblance to details of the corresponding subject of The Green Passion (SD.1504/27, 28). Dürer may have felt free to use elements of that series after the project for which it had been intended had been abandoned.' Strauss, Walter L., ed. The Illustrated Bartsch 10 (Commentary): Sixteenth Century German Artists, Albrecht Dürer. New York: Abaris Books, 1980. 328 p., ill. p.29. |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | The Engraved Passion (1507-1512) was one of four major series of religious prints made by Dürer, and helped to establish his reputation as an outstanding Renaissance printmaker. The others were the woodcut series of the Life of the Virgin, the Great Passion, and the Little Passion, all published in 1511. The Engraved Passion consists of fifteen small scale engravings and tells the story of Christ's betrayal by Judas, his crucifixion and resurrection. Dürer is renowned for inventing new and imaginative ways to depict scenes from Christian stories, and in the Engraved Passion the compositions of each plate are dramatic, intricate and complex, with emotive contrasts of light and shadow. Unlike the more populist woodcut prints, they were designed to appeal to a more exclusive market of connoisseurs and collectors. Because it took several years for the series to be completed, it is likely that individual images were sold separately. The series was also sold in sets for devotional use, and was widely copied by other printmakers and in other media. |
Associated objects | |
Bibliographic references |
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Other number | B.7 - Le Peintre-Graveur |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.4638-1910 |
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Record created | June 30, 2009 |
Record URL |
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