The Descent from the Cross, from "The Little Passion" (copy)

The Descent from the Cross, from "The Little Passion" (copy) by Albrecht Dürer is an exemplary piece of Northern Renaissance graphic art, characterized by its sharp detail and profound emotional weight. Executed as a woodcut and dating broadly between 1485 and 1600, this print belongs to Dürer’s highly influential series, "The Little Passion," a collection that utilized the accessibility of printed media to broadly circulate religious imagery across Europe. The work is held in the extensive collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The composition captures the dramatic moment immediately following Christ’s removal from the cross. The piece is intensely focused on the suffering, depicting the central figure of Christ being tenderly lowered by attendants while surrounded by a somber crowd of mourners and onlookers. Dürer’s original design maximized the woodcut technique, achieving fine line work and deep textural contrast, ensuring the success and wide distribution of the original prints.

Although this specific work is cataloged as a copy, its existence over a century after Dürer first created the design underscores the enduring popularity and significance of the German master's compositions, which printmakers continued to reproduce. The intense focus on the figures and the narrative climax illustrates why Dürer is considered one of the definitive figures in the history of printmaking. Due to the age and cultural importance of such pieces, this celebrated work, like many other great prints from the era, is frequently available in the public domain, offering broad access for scholarly study and public appreciation.