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The Fall and Redemption of Man, by Albrecht Altdorfer, 1515

The Fall and Redemption of Man

Albrecht Altdorfer

1515

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Overview

The Fall and Redemption of Man is a 1515 by Albrecht Altdorfer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?
Albrecht Altdorfer
When & what style?
1515 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?
Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a series of woodcuts depicting scenes from the story of Christian redemption. These woodcuts are part of a larger series and were printed on sheets of paper. The printing process is interesting because it was done to maximize efficiency and quality. The sheets were cut into pieces, but some were only cut in half, preserving multiple prints per page. This preserved the original layout of some of the prints. You can learn more about this style by looking at the work of artist: Albrecht Altdorfer.

The story of this work

Overview

These eight woodcuts come from a series of forty which illustrate the story of Christian redemption from original sin to the Last Judgement. Probably to maximize printing efficiency and quality, eight woodblocks were printed on each of five sheets of paper, but the subjects are not in the correct chronological order. Prior to sale, the sheets were cut into eight pieces. The sheets in the museum's set were only cut in half, preserving four prints per page. The numbers after the titles of the individual images indicate each scene's place within the narrative. By 1513, Altdorfer had already…

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Portrait of Albrecht Altdorfer
Artist

Albrecht Altdorfer

Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480 – 12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main…

See the richer artist page

More by Albrecht Altdorfer

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