Albrecht Altdorfer (1482-1538) Lot n° 22

Albrecht Altdorfer -Raising of the Cross - 1513 / Description: Raising of the Cross. A woodcut by Altdorfer signed at top left with his monogram. From his famous series The Fall and Redemption of Man as he titled it himself. The Salvation of Mankind Through the Life and Passion of Christ. The woodcuts from this series measures only about 7,20 cm in height but their composition is monumental with figure groups in expansive interiors and landscape settings. Altdorfer drew the compositions aside of each other to a woodblock to help ensure evenness of printing across the set. The compositions were copied in altarpieces and miniature paintings by other artists. They were never copied as woodcuts, a testament to the technical accomplishment required to make small woodcuts of such as high pictorial standard. / Dimensions: 7,20 x 4,90 cm / Condition: Excellent early impression Excellent early impression on fine laid paper with no visible wear to the plate or the borderline. Trimmed on to just outside the borderline. Tipped top middle to a support sheet. / Literature: New Hollstein (German) / The New Hollstein: German engravings, etchings and woodcuts 1400-1700 (w.29) --- Bartsch / Le Peintre graveur (VIII.74.29) --- Dodgson 1903, 1911 / Catalogue of Early German and Flemish Woodcuts in the BM, 2 vols (II.225.29a) --- Bartrum 1995 / German Renaissance Prints 1490-1550 (192e) / Medium: Woodcut /Circa: 1513 500