The Man of Sorrows

Germany (Augsburg)

c. 1480–90

Hand-colored woodcut

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A hand-colored woodcut depicts a male figure with a halo, carrying a green branch and tools. The figure is nude except for a loincloth and a draped garment. The background shows various implements and architectural elements. Especially potent is the simple, portable woodcut in which the Man of Sorrows is divorced from all narrative and surrounded by the arma Christi, or instruments of the Passion. By the late 1400s, the four traditional symbols (cross, lance, nails, and crown of thorns) had proved insufficient, so other visual cues were added to help viewers reconstruct the Passion from memory. In this Augsburg woodcut, the floating head near the vinegar-soaked sponge is probably Judas set to kiss Jesus. Gallery Not on View Gift of Herschel V. Jones, 1926