Afdaling in het voorgeborchte, Kruisafneming, Bewening, Graflegging 1509 - 1510

Albrecht Durer made this series of four scenes – Descent into Limbo, Descent from the Cross, Lamentation, and Burial – using an engraving technique. The stark contrast between the black lines and the white paper gives each scene a dramatic quality. Look closely, and you can almost feel the pressure Durer exerted as he used a tool called a burin to carve lines into a copper plate. The ink settles into these grooves, and when pressed onto paper, it creates the image we see. Consider the labor involved: each line carefully etched, each print meticulously made. Durer's skill transformed metal into a means of mass production, making art more accessible in his time. The inherent qualities of the engraved line – its precision, its capacity for detail – lend themselves well to the subject matter, the story of Christ. By embracing printmaking, Durer elevated what was then considered a craft, blurring the line between the unique artwork and the multiple. This reminds us that the value and meaning of a work lie not only in its subject, but also in the materials, processes, and social context of its making.