The Mocking of Christ, from "The Small Passion"

The Mocking of Christ, from The Small Passion, by Albrecht Dürer, is a powerful woodcut print created between 1508 and 1509. This piece belongs to Dürer’s influential series known as The Small Passion, a set of thirty-six demanding woodcut subjects designed for widespread public consumption. Produced during the height of the German Renaissance, this series demonstrated Dürer’s technical genius in utilizing the graphic potential of black and white lines, allowing for the mass distribution of emotional religious imagery across Northern Europe.

The image focuses intensely on the suffering of Christ, who is centrally positioned, bound, and surrounded by a group of mocking men. Dürer maximizes the dramatic tension inherent in the print medium through sharp contrasts, utilizing deep black lines carved into the wood block against the stark white of the paper. Christ is depicted with an air of calm resignation despite the harsh physical and psychological abuse being inflicted by the surrounding soldiers and observers. This pivotal moment of the Passion narrative serves to illustrate the human cruelty directed toward the divine figure. The composition’s tight framing amplifies the claustrophobic brutality of the scene, effectively emphasizing the spiritual and emotional core of this New Testament event.

As one of the most widely circulated series of Northern European prints, The Small Passion cemented Dürer's reputation as the preeminent graphic artist of his era. This specific impression is classified as a significant example of Renaissance printmaking and is held within the esteemed collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ensuring its continued relevance for studies in early modern art history.