The Crucifixion

Hans Burgkmair

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Burgkmair created this impressive depiction of the Crucifixion from eight woodblocks printed on eight sheets of paper that were later assembled to form a single image. Large woodcuts such as this were meant to be hung on walls. They were intended not only for private devotional use but were also displayed in such public spaces as churches. As a result they are very rare; only three other impressions of this print are known. This is one of four such large eight-sheet prints by the artist; also in the Metropolitan Museum's collection is the large Adam and Eve (49.95.150) dated two years earlier.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art