Sudarium Displayed by Two Angels

Physical description

Engraving by Albrecht Dürer, 'Sudarium Displayed by Two Angels'; 1513, Nuremberg. Inscribed with date and artist's monogram. Horizontal format print depicting two angels bearing between them a cloth emblazoned with a portrait of Jesus Christ wearing the crown of thorns, after the legend of St. Veronica.

Place of Origin

Nuremberg, Germany (engraved)

Date

1513 (engraved)

Artist/maker

Durer, Albrecht, born 1471 - died 1528 (artist)

Materials and Techniques

Engraving on paper

Marks and inscriptions

'1513 / AD'

Dimensions

Height: 10.1 cm, Width: 13.9 cm

Descriptive line

The Holy Face by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528); engraving

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Strauss, Walter L., ed. The Illustrated Bartsch 10 (Commentary): Sixteenth Century German Artists, Albrecht Dürer. New York: Abaris Books, 1980. 328 p., ill. ISBN 089835000X. B.25, pp.70-72.
'In the diary of his journey to the Low Countries, Dürer recorded that he gave away impressions of this print on 19 and 20 August 1520. He refers to the subject as "Veronicam." Some commentators believe that the artist conceived it as the closing sheet of The Engraved Passion, however, the horizontal format, which Dürer used only on a few occasions, would seem to speak against this. The image of Christ has been regarded as a self-portrait. Its hypnotic eyes, looking directly at the beholder, have inspired many later artists, particularly H.S. Beham's large woodcut of Christ's face (see vol.10, no.26-27 [182]).

This engraving reflects the dual nature of the legend of St. Veronica. The earliest version (recorded in the sixth century) speaks of the cloth merely as a commemorative image of Christ commissioned by the saint. By 1300, in the influential Bible of Roger d'Argenteuil, the saint, taking pity on Jesus on his ay to Calvary, hands him the kercheif to wipe his face, and miraculously his features are imprinted on it. In 1216 Pope Innocent III composed an office for a relic of the Sudarium, preserved at St. Peter's, carrying ten days' indulgence. The fact that it could also be recited before replicas led to a proliferation of copies of the Sudarium, both painted and printed.'

p.70
Bartrum, Guilia, ed. Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy - The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist / with contributions by Günter Grass, Joseph L. Koerner and Ute Kuhlemann. London: The British Museum Press, 2002. 320 p., ill. ISBN 0714126330. no.4, p.82.
Dodgson, C. The Masters of Engraving and Etching: Albrecht Dürer, London and Boston, 1926. 71.
Panofsky, Erwin. The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer. Volume I, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955 (4th edn). p.150, no.132.
Hollstein, F.W.H. German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts, c.1400-1700. Volume VII. Amsterdam: M. Hertzberger, 1954-. 27.
Rowlands, J.K. The Graphic Work of Albrecht Dürer: An Exhibition of his Prints and Drawings in Commemmoration of the Quincentenary of his Birth. London: British Museum, 1971. Exhibition catalogue. 81.
Koerner, J.L. The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art. Chicago and London, 1993. 94 f.
Heller, Joseph. Das Leben und die Werke Albrecht Dürer. Bamberg: 1827. Vols. 2 & 3 (vol. 1 was not published). 467.
Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog: Ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna, 1932. 26.
Tietze, Hans and Erika Tietze-Conrat. Kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke Albrecht Dürers. Vol. 1, Augsburg 1928; vol.2, Basel and Leipzig 1937; vol.3, Basel and Leipzig, 1938. 562.
Strauss, W.L. The Intaglio Prints of Albrecht Dürer . New York, 1977. 69.

Materials

Paper; Printing ink

Techniques

Engraving

Subjects depicted

Angels; Christianity; Religion; Sudarium

Categories

Prints

Collection code

PDP