4350 - Nuremberg Passion

Nuremberg Passion Master of the Nuremberg Passion: Christ Before Pilate. Copperplate engraving. 9.8 x 7.7 cm. Lehrs (School of the Master of the Playing Cards), Vol. I, p. 152, No. 4; Geisberg (The Beginnings of German Copperplate Engraving, Leipzig 1923), p. 10. The name “Master of the Nuremberg Passion” derives from an incomplete series of six copperplate engravings depicting the Passion, now housed in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg. Initially, 16 prints were attributed to the Master based on this group; later, the number rose to as many as 46. The present copperplate engraving, depicting “Christ Before Pilate,” belongs to a Passion series of which 11 sheets are now known. In the first volume of his Critical Catalog from 1908, Max Lehrs lists only three motifs from this series. Lehrs knows of only two copies of this copperplate engraving: the old-colored print in Munich is found in a manuscript dated “Tegernsee 1454”; the other print entered the collection of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg from the 1872 auction held by T. O. Weigel. Wide-margin copy. — Excellent, clear print with wide margins. Traces of glue on the reverse, slightly stained and dusty, otherwise in excellent condition.