The Lamentation, from "The Small Passion", edition Venice

The Lamentation, from "The Small Passion", edition Venice is a significant woodcut by the celebrated German Renaissance artist, Albrecht Dürer. Dated 1612, this specific impression is a later Venetian edition of a print originally conceived around 1509-1510 as part of Dürer’s influential series, "The Small Passion." This widespread dissemination through prints was crucial to establishing the artist’s international reputation and making sophisticated religious imagery available to a burgeoning European audience.

The core subject is the Lamentation, focusing on the highly emotional moment immediately after the Deposition, where the body of Christ is mourned by Mary, John the Evangelist, and Mary Magdalene. Dürer’s mastery of the woodcut medium is evident in the detailed rendering of form and texture, achieving a dramatic complexity usually reserved for engraving. The intense shadows and expressive handling of the figures convey the deep human grief that characterized Northern Renaissance approaches to passion narratives. This work demonstrates the power of graphic arts to communicate narrative depth through precise composition and line.

The continued study of this work highlights Dürer’s impact on early modern printmaking. This particular impression of The Lamentation resides in the esteemed collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a historically significant piece, these types of fine art prints are frequently digitized by institutions, allowing the imagery of this key Renaissance masterwork, now considered part of the public domain, to be accessed globally for scholarly research and appreciation.