Christ Taken by the Jews 1508

Albrecht Durer created this tiny woodcut, ‘Christ Taken by the Jews’, in 1508. It shows a moment from the Passion of Christ, specifically Christ’s betrayal by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. Dürer was working in Nuremberg, Germany, at a time when the printing press was enabling the mass circulation of images. Woodcuts like this would have been relatively cheap to produce and buy. This one comes from a series called the Small Passion, devotional images designed for a broad, Christian audience. Notice the drama and violence of the scene, typical of art at the time. Art historians would look at the wider context, what was happening in religion and society, to understand the image. In the early 16th century, the Catholic Church’s authority was starting to be questioned, with many people criticizing its wealth and power. Figures such as Martin Luther sought to reform the Church. Dürer’s art reflects the religious intensity of the time. To understand Dürer and his art better, we can look at the history of religious belief, popular culture, and the institutions that shaped artistic production.