The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
The Passion: Christ in Limbo
c. 1480
(German, c.1450–1491)
Sheet: 16.5 x 11.7 cm (6 1/2 x 4 5/8 in.)
Catalogue raisonné: L 29; TIB 8 comm., pt. 1, 0801.029
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
This image of Christ trampling a monstrous demon and piercing it with his cross recalls the one of Archangel Michael in another print by Martin Schongauer (1952.99).Description
Martin Schongauer's series The Passion of Christ was his largest set of engravings, made around 1480, and extensively copied across Europe. It consists of 12 prints detailing the suffering of Christ in the last days of his life. Schongauer's version focuses on crowded scenes, grotesque physiognomies of Christ's tormentors, and great pathos in the compositions. Here, Schongauer represented the episode in which Christ, between his death and resurrection, descended into Limbo to bring salvation to the righteous ones who had died before him. Christ majestically strides over a vanquished demon crushed under his foot, and holds Adam's hand with his left hand.- Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 73
- {{cite web|title=The Passion: Christ in Limbo|url=false|author=Martin Schongauer|year=c. 1480|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.20