Christ Bearing the Cross

Dated in 1511, the Christ Bearing the Cross is a woodcut done by Albrecht Durer. The talented German artist mainly used woodcuts, engravings, and sketches to portray his thoughts. In his last years, he was able to use oils and watercolours to paint.

He learned the skill of engraving at an early age and perfected it as he grew. He used innovative techniques and cross-hatching styles with different shades, mostly grey pallets and contrast between light and dark. This skill helped him enhance the visuals of his woodcuts, especially biblical art. The Christ Bearing the Cross image is black and white woodcut art. It is an image of several people, as explained in the Bible. His extraordinary skill in the woodcut helped him express his faith to the viewers. Viewers can understand the scriptures by viewing some of his art, such as Small Passion. In this painting, Albrecht Durer brought the image of Christ weighed down by His cross. He can be seen by the city gate and rises heroically above the heavy weight bestowed on him. It is a masterpiece of art showing the details and the occurrences of the crucifixion of Jesus.

From the far end, a viewer can see ancient buildings and structures. Albrecht Durer was apprenticed by his father, a goldsmith, and Michael Wolgemut, a local painter. He began from printmaking and advanced to engraving and oil and canvas paintings. He based his work on religious subjects such as the Apocalypse, the Large Woodcut Passion Cycle, Adam and Eve, and Melencolial. His ambition and a sharp eye for paintings earned him a great position with some of the most famous figures in German society. Over the years, he served as an official court artist for several artistic projects for Holy Roman Emperors Maximilian I and Charles V.

In his later life, Durer travelled all through Western Germany and learned how to trade in Strasberg, Colmar, and Basel. He was prosperous and visited Italy several times in pursuit of trading skills. During all these travels, he kept his paintings at home. Viewers could see that he was proud of his work as he signed the paintings with his full name in Latin. He had no issues with his work being reproduced and copied, especially the images from Italy. He recreated Adam and Eve's woodcut art into paintings and brought about a better human form. Today, he is a celebrated artist in German, and most of his work can be seen at Allen Art Museum. Ohio.