Christ Taking Leave of His Mother Possibly 1507 - 1511

This print, "Christ Taking Leave of His Mother," was created by Albrecht Durer in the late 15th or early 16th century, using the demanding technique of woodcut. Look closely and you'll notice how the bold lines define the figures and architecture with incredible precision. Woodcut is a relief printing process where the artist carves an image into a block of wood, removing the areas that will not be inked. What remains is then inked and pressed onto paper. Durer's mastery of this process allowed him to achieve a level of detail previously unseen in woodcuts, akin to the fine lines of metal engraving. This was labor-intensive work. Each line, each curve, required careful planning and execution, and the process was not easily repeatable. Prints such as this one democratized art, making images accessible to a wider audience than ever before. Durer wasn’t just an artist; he was a skilled artisan who elevated a craft to an art form, navigating the changing landscape of labor and artistic production in his time.