Christ on the Cross Between the Virgin and Moses

Christ on the Cross Between the Virgin and Moses

Hans Burgkmair

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

While the woodcut portion of this impression is consistent with published references, the letterpress inscription differs. Typically "EXALTATIO. S. CRUCIS" appears at top center, but here the inscription reads "WITTEMBERG," in large letters, level with Christ's knees, and below, "EXALTACIO.S. CRUCIS," level with Christ's feet. The other impressions were used as the frontispiece for "Ain Sermon von den Haylthumbern," a sermon delivered by Martin Luther in Wittemberg in 1522, with the title page on verso.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Christ on the Cross Between the Virgin and MosesChrist on the Cross Between the Virgin and MosesChrist on the Cross Between the Virgin and MosesChrist on the Cross Between the Virgin and MosesChrist on the Cross Between the Virgin and Moses

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.