Christ Carrying the Cross

Albrecht Dürer

1511

Woodcut

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A crowded scene depicts a man in a crown of thorns struggling to carry a large cross, surrounded by a group of figures. The composition is dense with many individuals and architectural elements. Albrecht Dürer made three series of Passion prints, two in woodcut and one engraved. Genius that he was, he capitalized on the affective possibilities of each technique. Using the more direct woodcut medium, Dürer presented a very human, very tired Christ weighed down by his cross--and, visually, by the city gate beyond. Engraving allowed for a subtler, more introspective Christ who seems to rise heroically above the heft of his cross and the heckler's taunts. Gallery Not on View The William M. Ladd Collection Gift of Herschel V. Jones, 1916