Albrecht Dürer - Small Xilographic Passion - Nuremberg, 1511

Albrecht Dürer - Small Xilographic Passion - Nuremberg, 1511

This impressive work dedicated to the Passion of the Christ originated from the greatest artist of the German Renaissance. In 1511, Albrecht Dürer published his woodcut series of the so-called Small Passion as a book, which was published by Hieronymous Höltzel in Nuremberg. With his Passion, Albrecht Dürer created a brilliant attestation to the religiosity associated with the Passion in the Late Middle Ages and a significant work of art history, which has not forfeited any of its fascination to this day.

The Greatest Artist of the German Renaissance

Albrecht Dürer was undertaking a grand tour of Italy from 1505 to 1507 and gathered formative impressions for his own art in the Promised Land of the Renaissance. Once returned from Italy, he busied himself with religious subjects such as the life of Mary, the Passion of the Christ, and the Apocalypse. Finally in 1511, Dürer published four series of religious woodcuts in book form, the famous Small Passion among them. The book has 36 full-page woodcuts concerning the theme of the Passion of the Christ, as the title already indicates.

A True Bestseller

This is consistent with a period in the Late Middle Ages when religiosity associated with the Passion was widespread and the Passion was also a popular artistic theme. In private devotion and prayer with the striking images directly before their eyes, the faithful were intended to immerse themselves in the so-called “compassio” and empathize with Christ’s suffering directly. Dürer’s Small Passion became a true bestseller largely due to the theme’s great popularity and was continuously reprinted into the 20th century.

The Passion of the Christ in Brilliant Imagery

36 woodcuts and a title page give the beholder an understanding of the Passion story. Albrecht Dürer, who was already recognized by his contemporaries as a highly-talented graphic artist, particularly for his 1498 woodcut series on the Apocalypse, followed the traditional iconography, and yet conveyed his own unmistakable and perfected style. The series begins with the Fall of Man and the Expulsion from Paradise. After that comes the actual Passion through the death of Christ, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. Dürer additionally inserts some scenes from Genesis and the childhood of Christ into his series. The scene of Judgement Day serves as the last page of the series.

A Modern Book ca. 1500

The woodcuts (also called xylography) with the visual representations are always printed on the right page of the book. The woodcuts of the Small Passion measure 127 x 98 mm (in comparison to the Great Passion measuring 400 x 300 mm). The great popularity of the work would lead to their being reprinted in Venice with Italian text in 1612.