Currently not on view
Christ in Limbo,
1510
Albrecht Dürer, 1471–1528; born and died Nuremberg, Germany; active Venice, Italy, and Nuremburg
x1946-223
According to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, after his crucifixion and before his resurrection Christ descended into Limbo (the outermost circle of Hell) to overcome (or “harrow”) Satan and to liberate the souls of the Old Testament saints. In Dürer’s novel interpretation of the story, Satan’s monstrous minions besiege Christ as he kneels to pull two figures from the infernal abyss, while already liberated souls, including Adam and Eve, prepare to enter Paradise.
Information
Title
Christ in Limbo
Dates
1510
Maker
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
block (sheet trimmed to block): 39.4 × 28.3 cm (15 1/2 × 11 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Laura P. Hall Memorial Collection
Object Number
x1946-223
Place Made
Europe, Germany, Nuremburg
Inscription
Date and monogram in block, center right and lower right: 1510 / AD
Marks/Labels/Seals
Watermark: Meder W2.316: MA
Reference Numbers
Bartsch 14; Dodgson 63; Hollstein 121; Meder 121; Schoch 211
Materials
Techniques
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Adam vom Bartsch, "Volume 7," Le peintre graveur ... (Vienne: J. V. Degen, 1803-05).
, nos. 16–52, pp. 119–122 - Arthur Mayger Hind, Albrecht Dürer: his engravings and woodcuts (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1911)., p. 14
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Campbell Dodgson, Albrecht Dürer (London: Medici Society, 1926).
, nos. 60–96 - Joseph Meder, Dürer-Katalog, ein handbuch über Albrecht Dürers stiche, radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren zustände, ausgaben und wasserzeichen (Vienna: Gilhofer & Rauschburg, 1932)., nos. 125–161
- Erwin Panofsky, Albrecht Dürer (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1945).
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F.W.H. Hollstein, “Dürer,” German engravings, etchings, and woodcuts, ca. 1400-1700 (Amsterdam: M. Hertzberger, 1962).
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Rainer Schoch, Matthias Mende, and Anna Scherbaum, Albrecht Dürer: das druckgraphische Werk (München: Prestel, 2001).
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