The Resurrection
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Sheet: 9 1/16 × 7 in. (23 × 17.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Felix M. Warburg, 1920
Accession Number
20.64.25
Tags
Art Historical Context
Albrecht Altdorfer's *The Resurrection* (1512) captures one of Christianity's most triumphant moments: Christ's rising from the tomb, surrounded by awestruck guards, radiant angels, and the symbolic cross. Created during the Northern Renaissance, this woodcut reflects the era's fervor for religious imagery, when prints like this one democratized art, allowing widespread devotion among pilgrims and the faithful across Europe. As a master of the Danube School, Altdorfer infused his works with dramatic light effects and intricate details, even in the modest scale of this 9 1/16 × 7 in. sheet. Wo...
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...