Study sheet with Christ as Man of Sorrows and a garment study 1510

This is Albrecht Dürer's pen and black ink drawing "Study sheet with Christ as Man of Sorrows and a garment study." Made during the Renaissance, a time of religious reform, this study sheet gives us insight into the era’s evolving spiritual identity. Dürer captures Christ as the "Man of Sorrows," a devotional subject meant to evoke empathy, but renders Christ’s body with a muscularity more reminiscent of classical antiquity than traditional Christian iconography. The crown of thorns sits atop his head, while his hands clutch at his side, perhaps alluding to the wound he sustained on the cross. Dürer’s decision to depict Christ with such raw physicality invites us to consider the intersection of faith, suffering, and the body, highlighting the very human pain experienced by Christ. The study of the garment below adds another layer, grounding the divine in earthly, material reality. This work captures a moment of intense personal and collective contemplation, a visual meditation on faith and human suffering.