The Mocking of Christ, from "The Small Passion"

The Mocking of Christ, from "The Small Passion," is a profound woodcut created by Albrecht Dürer between 1508 and 1509. This piece belongs to Dürer’s monumental series, "The Small Passion," which features fifty-five highly detailed compositions that cemented the artist’s reputation for technical brilliance in the medium of prints. Dürer executed these works using meticulously placed lines and dramatic chiaroscuro to achieve an unprecedented level of spatial depth and emotional intensity in relief printing during the Northern Renaissance.

The composition focuses intensely on the suffering of Jesus, who is depicted blindfolded and physically restrained while surrounded by a chaotic group of tormenting Men. Unlike earlier medieval depictions of this scene, Dürer includes figures engaged in specific, humiliating activities, emphasizing the psychological anguish Christ endured. The cruel inclusion of rough Musical Instruments, specifically a fife and drum, instruments often associated with street mockery and public degradation, amplifies the severity of the scene. The aggressive posing of the surrounding figures starkly underscores the intense cruelty central to the Passion narrative.

This specific impression is preserved as a significant example of Dürer’s graphic output within the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The accessibility and high quality of Dürer’s original woodcuts ensured their widespread influence across Europe, making them one of the earliest examples of mass-produced, high-art imagery. Today, this key work remains celebrated by scholars examining the artistic and religious dissemination of imagery across sixteenth-century German lands.