1480
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Passion: Christ in Limbo is a 1480 by Martin Schongauer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a crowded scene of Christ stepping into a dark cave, pulling Adam and Eve from their tombs while demons scramble in panic. This print is one of twelve in Schongauer’s *Passion* series—the largest set he ever made. The faces of the tormentors are exaggerated, almost cartoonish, to show their cruelty. The fine lines create deep shadows, making the cave feel claustrophobic. If you like how Schongauer uses line to build drama, look up *chiaroscuro*.
Martin Schongauer's series The Passion of Christ was his largest set of engravings, made around 1480, and extensively copied across Europe. It consists of 12 prints detailing the suffering of Christ in the last days of his life. Schongauer's version focuses on crowded scenes, grotesque physiognomies of Christ's tormentors, and great pathos in the compositions. Here, Schongauer represented the episode in which Christ, between his death and resurrection, descended into Limbo to bring salvation to the righteous ones who had died before him. Christ majestically strides over a vanquished demon…
This image of Christ trampling a monstrous demon and piercing it with his cross recalls the one of Archangel Michael in another print by Martin Schongauer (1952.99).
Read the full account in the museum source.
Martin Schongauer, also known as Martin Schön or Hübsch Martin by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter.
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