Lamentation for Christ

1515/1517

Hans Baldung Grien

Associated Names
Hans Baldung Grien

Artist, German, 1484/1485 - 1545

This is a drawing of a scene showing a figure surrounded by mourners and symbolic objects. The lifeless figure lies in the foreground, partially covered with fabric, with arms and legs prominently visible. Two figures weep on either side while a ladder leans against a large vertical timber in the background. Various objects lie at the base of the timber, including a pot, a smaller cylindrical container, and tools resembling nails. The composition is expressive and strongly delineated, typical of woodcut prints influenced by Northern Renaissance art.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet and block: 22.1 × 15.5 cm (8 11/16 × 6 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.5.90

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Hollstein, no. 53

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Count Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg [1805-1865], Klein-Oels, Silésie; Johann Andreas Boerner [1785-1862], Nuremberg; (his sale, Rudolph Weigel, Leipzig, 1864, German school sale, no. 204); (Richard H. Zinser, Forest Hills, NY); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1949; gift to NGA, 1949.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1950

  • Rosenwald Collection: An Exhibition of Recent Acquisitions, NGA, 1950, no. 31, repro.

1959

  • University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, 1959, no catalogue.

1968

  • The Golden Age of the Woodcut: 1450-1550, Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 1968, no. 69.

1969

  • Symbols in Transformation: Iconographic Themes at the Time of the Reformation, Princeton University Art Museum, 1969.

1981

  • Hans Baldung Grien Prints and Drawings, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, 1981, not in catalogue.

2019

  • Hans Baldung Grien, Large State Exhibition of Baden-Wurttemberg, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, 2019 - 2020, no. 143.

  • Hans Baldung Grien, Large State Exhibition of Baden-Wurttemberg, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, 2019 - 2020, unnumbered catalogue.

Bibliography

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts ca. 1400-1700. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954-1868. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger

Inscriptions

in image, in block at lower right: HGB [artist's monogram]; on verso, in graphite at lower left: L Rsw; on verso, in black ink at lower left: Hans Baldung Grien / B. No. 5. / J.A. Boerner [collector's signature (Lugt 269)] / srix

Markings

on verso, in black ink: Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg (Lugt 2669)

Watermarks

present but not identified

Wikidata ID

Q65072895

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