Foot washing

Unknown artist

The artist copied Dürers around 1508/09 designed woodcut “Die Foot Wash,” part of his “Kleinen Passion,” published for the first time in 1511, reduced in size and from the opposite side. Although he also used a low-pressure technique, the orientation to the template is clearly visible. The main scene takes place in the foreground of a space illuminated by the two candles of a ceiling lamp. Christ kneels on the ground, has a apron tied around his hip and bends over the water bowl in which he thoroughly washes the feet of Peter sitting opposite him. This grabs the forehead in a embarrassing way. John appears as a helper and holds a pot and cloth behind Christ. The surrounding apostles react to the events by turning to each other, talking to each other and gesturing. Although no reference to Dürer as the intellectual creator of the image idea or the actual artist is integrated into the representation, the address of Munich publisher Peter König. Below the section of the picture, which is framed by fine lines, there is a Latin inscription.