The Engraved Passion (1507-1512)

The sixteen subjects of the Engraved Passion are not as uniform in character as Dürer's two woodcut Passions because their development is spread over a longer period of time. The more Italianate, three-dimensional character of the Lamentation (No. 12) of 1507 can be pointed out, as compared with the subjects of 1512, which are conceived like two-dimensional paintings. Dürer seeks out difficult problems, extreme foreshortenings, details of heads and bodies, effects of costumes, all features which are omitted from the woodcut versions. He is working for a different audience, for the intelligentsia. These engravings have an air of artificiality but are nevertheless quite powerful.

Without doubt, Dürer sold these sheets singly before the entire series was completed. The Man of Sorrows, the Bearing of the Cross and the Resurrection are particularly suitable for insertion into prayerbooks. For that reason these three subjects seem a little more dull in most complete sets. All sheets lack border lines. Dürer refers to the Engraved Passion on many occasions in the Diary of his trip to the Netherlands, 1520/21.

The series is presented here in the sequence of subjects, not in chronological order.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 8 minutes):
Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion BWV 244 (excerpts)