Two men nailing Christ to cross before onlookers, after Dürer
ca. 1500–1534
Medium
Engraving; third state of three
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 1/4 × 3 7/8 in. (13.3 × 9.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Henry Walters, 1917
Accession Number
17.37.257
Tags
Art Historical Context
This poignant engraving, titled *Two Men Nailing Christ to the Before Onlookers*, captures a dramatic moment from the Passion of Christ. Created by Italian engraver Marcantonio Raimondi a design by German Renaissance master Albrecht Dür, it dates to around 1500–1534. The small sheet (5 1/4 × 3 7/8 in.) depicts two soldiers affixing Christ to the cross amid a crowd of men and women, their expressions blending anguish, resolve, and indifference—a vivid tableau of human suffering and faith. Raimondi's mastery of engraving shines in this third state of three, where intricate lines convey Dürer's ...
About the Artist
Marcantonio Raimondi|Albrecht Dürer · 1475–1534
Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1480–1534), born near Bologna, Italy, emerged as one of the Renaissance's premier engravers, revolutionizing printmaking through his mastery of reproductive techniques. He trained in the workshop of the goldsmith, painter, and niellist Francesco Francia, whose influence is evident in his early engravings, such as the goldsmith-like shading in *Pyramus and Thisbe* (1505), h...