Christ Carrying the Cross

Albrecht Dürer made three series of Passion prints, two in woodcut and one engraved. Genius that he was, he capitalized on the affective possibilities of each technique. Using the more direct woodcut medium, Dürer presented a very human, very tired Christ weighed down by his cross--and, visually, by the city gate beyond. Engraving allowed for a subtler, more introspective Christ who seems to rise heroically above the heft of his cross and the heckler's taunts.