Christ Carrying the Cross

Working in the Rhineland during the latter half of the 15th century, Martin Schongauer was a leading figure in the development of printmaking in Northern Europe. He is especially well-known today for his developments in modeling and shading, but his skill did not go unnoticed by his contemporaries. As a young artist, Dürer had traveled to Schongauer's workshop with the intention of working with the artist, but Schongauer had died by the time he arrived. Even after his death, Schongauer's prints remained greatly influential, often inspiring the works of subsequent printmakers. The theme of Christ's Passion appears often in Schongauer's 116 known engravings, the majority of which were devoted to religious subjects. This print comes from a Passion cycle that begins with Christ's Agony in the Garden and concludes with his Resurrection. Many scholars believe that this cycle was completed in chronological order, and thus charts the evolution of Schongauer's engraving style.