Sudarium Displayed by Two Angels

1513·Engraving in black on off-white laid paper·9.9 × 13.8 cm (3 15/16 × 5 7/16 in.)

The impression of Christ’s sweat is said to have formed the original Sudarium when a widow wiped his brow as he paused on the way to his death at Golgotha. This relic and portrait made its way to Rome, and when it came in contact with other cloths, those too bore Christ’s image, in a proliferation that can be seen as a metaphor for the printmaking process. Viewers saying the prayer Salve Sancta Facies (Hail Holy Face) while contemplating the original relic were said to receive indulgences reducing their stay in Purgatory by twenty thousand years. Reciting the prayer before Dürer’s Sudarium could produce similar results.

Catalogue

Year: 1513
Medium: Engraving in black on off-white laid paper
Dimensions: 9.9 × 13.8 cm (3 15/16 × 5 7/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Albrecht Dürer

Artist

Albrecht Dürer

Painting

Albrecht Dürer, sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance. Born in Nuremberg, Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints. He was in contact with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, and from 1512 was patronized by Emperor Maximilian I.

Nuremberg, Germany

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