Jesus Christ Parting from the Virgin to go and Suffer Death

While artists often portrayed the Virgin lamenting her son’s suffering in Passion cycles, Daniel Hopfer I’s visionary image depicts the Virgin sobbing before Christ’s betrayal, scourging, and crucifixion. Knowing her son will die a gruesome death, she feels physical pain at his departure. Hopfer literally depicted the Virgin’s heart-wrenching pain as the hilt of a sword projecting from her chest. This rugged etching pitilessly shows an aged Virgin clinging to her grown son as tears roll down her face.