Man of Sorrows
1465/70
Artist unknown German, 15th century
Germany
Images such as the Man of Sorrows were intended to shock the beholder into repentance. The pristine condition, and even survival, of this hand-colored woodcut is primarily due to its having been pasted-like many early devotional woodcuts-within a protective book cover. This unique impression was discovered amidst the rubble during the bombardment of London in 1945.
Woodcut hand-colored with brush and watercolor on cream laid paper, edge-mounted to vellum, laid down on wooden book cover covered in hand-tooled leather with tooled metal hinges