Christ Carrying the Cross

1512

Albrecht Dürer

Associated Names
Albrecht Dürer

Artist, German, 1471 - 1528

This print depicts multiple people gathered around a central man who carries a large wooden cross. This man has long, wavy hair, a beard, and a crown of thorns on his head. He wears a robe of draped fabric tied around his waist with a rope, and a man in the bottom right corner is grabbing the front of his robe, trying to pull him forward. Many of the people around him appear to be soldiers, wearing armor and holding pointed weapons. On the left, near the bottom left corner of the print, are two people facing the central man and holding cloths, and one woman with a headscarf who has her hands clasped together and her head turned down. In the background is a tall structure, a small tree on the left, and an inscription located in the top right corner.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to platemark): 11.7 × 7.5 cm (4 5/8 × 2 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.3509

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Meder, no. 12

  • Series Title

    The Engraved Passion

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Brentano-Birckenstock Collection, Vienna and Frankfurt (Lugt 345); Arthur Friederich Theodor Bohnenberger [1826-1893], Stuttgart (Lugt 68); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1760b and Lugt 1932d), 1928; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1929

  • Engravings by Albrecht Durer from the collection of Lessing J. Rosenwald of Philadelphia, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1929, no. 2.

1964

  • Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA, 1964, no catalogue.

1971

  • Dürer in America: His Graphic Work, NGA, 1971, no. 49, repro.

Bibliography

1932

  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

2001

  • Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 1: no. 54.

Inscriptions

in plate at top right, on tablet: 1512 / AD [artist's monogram]; verso, lower center, in graphite by a later hand: 12 [upside down]; verso, bottom left, in graphite by a later hand: NR [?] 25146; verso, bottom center, in graphite by a later hand: B.12

Markings

none

Watermarks

none visible

Wikidata ID

Q18338460

You may be interested in

Loading Results