The Crucifixion

Albrecht Dürer produced the woodcut The Crucifixion in 1490 as part of his printmaking activity during the German Renaissance. The work belongs to the series known as the Great Passion, which exists in different versions held by multiple institutions. According to catalog records, the print is held in collections including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Albertina, and the Prints in the National Gallery of Art / Rosenwald Collection.

Specific locations cited for the work include the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The sources do not provide further details on commission, prior ownership, or intermediate provenance transfers for this particular impression.

The Crucifixion is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the Cleveland Museum of Art. In Washington, the woodcut is part of the Rosenwald Collection with accession number 1943.3.453. In Cleveland, it is recorded under inventory number 1963.259.

It has been exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in the 2016 display "Dürer’s Passions: The Small, Large, and Engraved" and appears in the museum’s online collection.

Albrecht Dürer's The Crucifixion, created in 1490 as a woodcut, stands as a significant work within the German Renaissance movement. The piece serves as an early component of Dürer's Great Passion series, depicting the New Testament narrative of Jesus Christ's execution. The work's enduring scholarly interest is evidenced by its presence in major public collections, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Albertina.

While the 1490 date marks its inception, the print also exists in versions associated with later years, reflecting the artist's continued engagement with the subject across different phases of his career. Its dimensions of 39 cm in height and 28 cm in width establish the scale typical of Dürer's independent prints from this period.

The Crucifixion has remained a reference point for scholars examining Dürer's mastery of line and composition within the German Renaissance. Its stark emotional intensity and precise draftsmanship informed subsequent religious printmakers, who cited its balance of narrative clarity and anatomical rigor as a benchmark for devotional imagery. The work's frequent inclusion in major museum collections, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the National Gallery of Art, has reinforced its status as a touchstone for studies of early modern print culture and the visual articulation of crucifixion theology.

Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut entitled The Crucifixion was produced around 1498. Executed as a print on paper, the image presents the central Christian scene of Christ’s crucifixion, rendered in the stark contrast of black ink against the white of the sheet.