Christ on the Cross

Unknown artist

The woodcut is a partial copy after the woodcut “Christ on the Cross,” which, according to Heller, was signed in old prints with the signature “Gedrucken bey Hans Guldenmund.” (Cf. Heller Dürer 1827 II.753.1974 or I H 8 of the State Library Bamberg) Contrary to this template, the crucified one is isolated, without the accompanying figures of Mary and John or background design. The cross forms the central axis of the leaf and shows the muscular, yet now libelous body of the thorn-crowned home accentuated by a plate bus. Below are the skull and bones. In his Dürer publication of 1827, Heller, like Nagler, lists the paper under the heading “Doubtful Leaves.” Both suggest that the Dürer monogram was printed separately using a stamp only in recent prints. (Cf. Heller Dürer 1827 II.753.1975, Nagler 1837, p. 139)