Great passion
The Great Passion describes a printed work by Albrecht Dürer that was printed in 1511. It is a book that tells the story of the Passion of Christ using Latin text and 12 woodcuts .
text
The text of the Great Passion comes from Benedictus Chelidonius , a humanistic monk of the Nuremberg Schottenkloster St. Egidiens and later abbot of the Viennese Schottenstift . The content is about the Passion story of Christ, which is not told according to the Bible . Instead, it is a compilation of texts by Caelius Sedulius , Hieronymus Paduanus , Dominicus Mancinus and Baptista Mantuanus . These texts are characterized in that they represent Jesus as a human figure with human feelings to the fore and also with antique vocabulary and symbolism are written
The story is divided into 11 chapters:
- The Lord's Supper with his disciples
- Christ on the Mount of Olives
- Christ is captured by the Jews
- Christ is scourged in the house of Pilate
- Pilate brings Christ to the Jews and says, "See what a man!"
- Christ is led to the crucifixion
- Christ crucified
- Christ descends into the underworld [limbo]
- Christ is laid before his mother [lamentation]
- Christ is placed in the grave
- Christ rises from the dead
photos
The woodcuts were all cut by Dürer's workshop. There are striking differences in quality to be recognized, which is based on the fact that seven woodcuts were made between 1496 and 1498, the remaining five not until 1510. These are the title page, the Lord's Supper, the Capture of Christ, Christ in Limbo and the Resurrection of Christ.
All woodcuts are characterized by their oversized format (approx. 280 × 390 mm) and their three-dimensional effect, not previously seen at the time, which Dürer achieves through the consistent use of graphic mid-tone. In this process, neutrally illuminated zones are represented by parallel hatching , the darkest areas by narrow cross hatching and the lightest areas remain parchment white. In addition, Dürer's work is characterized by the fact that, for the first time in the history of book printing, the depicted image is as important as the text. His works thus become the forerunners of graphic media.
From an iconographic point of view, it can be stated that Dürer sticks to the biblical text, but breaks with most traditional forms of representation. He paints the Passion story in a German setting, dresses people in contemporary clothing and, in contrast, mixes it with ancient symbolism. In addition, due to the large format, it is easy for him to accommodate several narrative sequences of the Passion story in one picture.
The Lord's Supper with his disciples
Christ on the Mount of Olives
Christ is captured by the Jews
Christ is scourged in the house of Pilate
Pilate brings Christ to the Jews and says, "See what a man!"
Christ is led to the crucifixion
Christ crucified
Christ descends into the underworld [limbo]
Christ is laid before his mother [lamentation]
Christ is placed in the grave
Christ rises from the dead
