The Entombment, from "The Fall and Salvation of Mankind Through the Life and Passion of Christ"
ca. 1513
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/16 × 2 3/16 in. (7.8 × 5.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.11.39
Tags
Art Historical Context
Albrecht Altdorfer *The Entombment*, around 1513, is a exquisite woodcut from his series *The Fall and Salvation Mankind Through the Life and Passion of Christ*. This tiny print (just 3 1/16 × 2 3/16 inches) captures a poignant from Christ's Passion: the solemn lowering of his body into the tomb, surrounded by grieving figures like the Virgin Mary and disciples. As a key figure in the German Renaissance and the Danube School, Altdorfer infused his works with dramatic landscapes and intricate details, even in miniature formats like this one. Woodcuts were revolutionary in the early 16th centur...
About the Artist
Albrecht Altdorfer · 1475–1538
Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538) was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman who stands as one of the founders of landscape painting as an independent genre. Born in Regensburg or nearby Altdorf, he learned art from his father Ulrich, a painter and miniaturist. Altdorfer spent most of his life in Regensburg, becoming a citizen in 1505 and later serving as the city's official architect and a m...