Antique German Woodcut THE DEPOSITION

Antique German Woodcut THE DEPOSITION
Antique Woodcut THE DEPOSITION (aka THE ENTOMBMENT), From The Small Passion (c. 1509-10), After Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528) | Ink on Watermarked Laid Paper | Depicting the Tomb of Christ | Approx. Dimensions: Sheet: 5.25" H x 4" W | From Durer’s Small Woodcut Passion, comprised of thirty-six images comprehensively illustrating the history of Christian salvation beginning with the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and ending with the Last Judgment. Their size suggests that they were intended to be used as devotional images, which were common in the late middle ages as aids to the vivid imagining of Christ’s life. Dürer’s compositions position the viewer as an intimate witness to emotionally powerful scenes, encouraging empathy with the suffering of Christ, and in this case, sorrow when his dead body is lowered into tomb, The Small Woodcut Passion, first published in 1511, was so popular that it was reprinted several times. A fairly good early impression without text after the first edition with margins outside the border.LiteratureF. W. H. Hollstein German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts, ca. 1400–1700. Amsterdam, 1954. Rainer Schoch, Matthias Mende, Anna Scherbaum Albrecht Dürer, Das druckgraphische Werk. Prestel, Vol. 1-3, Munich; London; New York, 2001–2004.NotesSubject matter: This print features the entombment of Christ after his Crucifixion. Set in a rugged landscape, followers, including Joseph of Arimathea, lower the body of Christ into a stone tomb in the foreground. The evidence of the Passion can be seen in the wounds on Christ's hands and feets, and is further symbolized in the crown of thorns at the foot of the tomb. The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist stand watching in quiet contemplation, while other mourners sit at the far left. Mary Magdalene kneels at the feet of Christ with a jar of ointment. br> Physical Description: A group of four men gently lower a figure into a tomb that is placed parallel to the viewer. To the left is a group of mourners with hands clasped. One female figure kneels at the ledge of the tomb and holds a covered jar. Behind the figures is a rocky landscape with a fence and guard at the gate in the distance at the left. An entrance to a cave is indicated on the right, directly behind the tomb, with the use of dense, dark hatching. At the lower right corner is a circlet of thorny branches.