The Last Judgment
Medium
Woodcut; second of two states
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 15/16 × 7 1/2 in. (27.8 × 19 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
Accession Number
17.3.2380
Tags
Art Historical Context
**The Last Judgment**, a striking woodcut created by Hans Baldung Grien in 1505, captures one of Christianity's most dramatic themes: the final reckoning of souls at Christ's return. Baldung, a gifted German artist and protégé of Albrecht Dürer, was a master of the Northern Renaissance, blending intricate detail with emotional intensity. This print, the second of two stateslikely a refined edition with adjustments—reflects the era's fascination with apocalypse and salvation, amid the eve of the Protestant Reformation. Produced when woodcuts were revolutionizing art dissemination, it allowed wi...
About the Artist
Hans Baldung (called Hans Baldung Grien) · 1484–1545
Hans Baldung Grien (1484/85–1545), born in Schwäbisch Gmünd into an erudite family of jurists and physicians, forsook academia to pursue art. His early training around 1500 took place in the Upper Rhineland, likely Strasbourg, before he apprenticed under Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg from 1503 to 1507. There, the young artist honed his skills in painting, printmaking, and stained glass, even managin...