Assignment: Learning to Look at the Visual Arts

Undergraduate Certificate in the History of Art Name: Anthony TooleAssignment 1: Learning to look at the Visual Arts ID no: 2772764

Ecce Homo - Christ Presented to the People (The Small Passion)

Albrecht Dürer, 1509-1511

The thirty seven woodcuts in Dürer's Small Passion series1 present a

pictorial biblical narrative that begins with the Fall of Man and concludes

with the Last Judgement. It has, at its centre, the story of the birth, death

and resurrection of Christ. Ecce Homo is a print that depicts the scene

when Christ is presented to the people prior to his crucifixion.

The woodcuts were created between 1509 and 1510 and the first edition

was published in 1511. The original blocks are now in the British Museum

and the impression of Ecce Homo being evaluated here is from the 1511

1 Karl-Adolf Knappe. Dürer - The Complete Etchings and Woodcuts. (London 1965). Images 254-290.

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Latin edition, currently in a private collection. The image above is shown

actual size (12.7cm x 9.86cm) and the original is a Meder (d) impression2

on laid paper.

The dominant lines of organisation in Ecce Homo are vertical and

horizontal, combined with strong diagonals in a matrix of mainly equilateral

triangles. The overall layout is formed as nested golden sections, both

vertical and horizontal (Appendix: Figures 1-5).

The bold horizontals and verticals in the picture are defined by the building

and reinforced by the figures and their clothes. Christ is presented by Pilate

on a balcony and viewed by the people as though through a proscenium

arch. This, together with the attitudes of the main figures, gives the

impression of a tableaux; appropriate, perhaps, for a key moment in the

classical portrayal of the passion of Christ.

The composition of the picture is dominated by a single strong diagonal

starting from the lower left hand corner. This diagonal progresses through

the sword, clothing, arm and hand of the main left hand figure; is extended

by the fold in Pilate's coat, and ends on the forehead of Christ directly

between the eyes.

The drama and pathos of Ecce Homo was encapsulated by Dürer in the

simple inclination of Christ's head which aligned his nose with the dominant

diagonal connecting him to the person who was holding the cross. An

expression of inner peace completes the image.

The linear geometry that structures the composition is relieved by the

perfect half-circle of the proscenium arch which is mirrored below by the

arm and hand of Pilate drawing back the cloak of Christ. This lower arch

forms a completed circle through the figures to the right foreground and the

2 Joseph Meder. Dürer - Katalog. (Wein 1932). p141-142.

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seated figure with the halberd (Figure 4). Relief is also provided by the

graceful curve of the figure in the left foreground which cuts through the

vertical, horizontal and diagonal cues that the same figure contributes.

The harmony and balance of the composition is significantly enhanced by

the use of double nested golden sections as illustrated in Figure 5. The

plane of the proscenium arch has horizontal and vertical golden sections

and is nested within the picture plane which is sectioned in the same way.

This compositional structure reinforces the 'tableaux' nature of the picture.

Geometrical space is an important feature of the picture. Linear perspective

applies and although the vanishing point in Ecce Homo is obscured by the

building from which Christ is being presented, there are sufficient indicators

from the lines of the building to suggest that the horizon is a little below the

top of the balcony where he is standing. The cross piece of the second

crucifix and the unusual angle of the arm of the leftmost figure are amongst

the other aspects of the picture that add to the impression of perspective. A

series of receding planes also contribute geometrical space. From the

picture plane there are planes at the step with the seated figure, the ledge

behind the figure, the balcony, the pillar behind Pilate and then the door

behind that.

Figure 3 in the Appendix shows the matrix of equilateral triangles that

articulate space and add depth. The main triangle arising from the two

bottom corners of the picture and peaking at Pilate's chin creates the

greatest impression of depth between the picture plane and the plane

defined by the balcony wall. This is accentuated by the figures to the left

and right foreground that contribute to the triangle through the fact they

angle into the centre of the picture.

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The spatial effect of this triangulation is reinforced by the seated figure in

the bottom centre who appears to be in his own glass pyramid, seen

through the slanting front triangle.

It might be argued, in fact, that the picture plane is actually the proscenium

arch and that the observer is amongst the 'people' to whom Christ is being

presented. This view significantly increases the perceived depth of the

picture as it brings into play the space between the observer and the main

foreground figures.

The shading effects employed in the woodcut contribute to the impression

of space and form. The darker and lighter areas of the picture, created

through different levels of hatching and cross-hatching, create depth with

lighter areas coming forward and darker areas receding into the picture.

This chiaroscuro effect is particularly apparent in the two figures to the left

and right foreground with the highlights projecting out of the picture. The

same effect is employed much more delicately in the figure of Christ who is

in partial shadow from the light from the left.

The chiaroscuro effect, complementing the compositional design, also

renders solid form in the picture. This is again exemplified by the figures in

the foreground in the way highlighted areas and shadows combine to give

them a convincing three-dimensional presence. The clair-obscure

technique used in the robes of the figures to the right foreground adds a

level of subtlety to the shading.

A further shading effect that generates the impression of depth and form is

in the direction of the woodcuts themselves. This can be seen in the

contrast between the flat surfaces, where the cuts are across the plane of

the surface or uniformly cross-hatched, and the receding surfaces where

they are cut in the direction of that recession, reinforcing the effect.

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The lintel above the proscenium arch (though not easy to see in the

reproduction here, but quite apparent in the original) is a good example of

the woodcuts contributing to the linear perspective, whilst the woodcuts

articulating the folds of the clothes of all the figures demonstrate how the

technique contributes to form.

The light and dark tones in the picture also create a dramatic contrast

between the menace in the overall scenario and the serenity in the face of

Christ. The darkest area under the Proscenium arch is the doorway at the

rear which promises danger and uncertainty. The triangle reaching in to

Christ from the picture plane seeks to push him into the dark background.

The enigmatic dark shadow on the shelf behind the seated figure seems to

be symbolic of the crucifix with which Christ will be soon united.

There is an anxious dynamic about the whole picture epitomised by the

figure and face of Christ who, half absorbed already in the brooding

darkness, is reflecting on this necessary process and only too aware of the

ultimate outcome.

Dürer used a variety of tonal techniques in his woodcut to create shapes

and shades; space and form; atmosphere and a way of expressing the

context for this moment in the classic story. In the Small Passion he was

addressing the task of convincingly articulating plastic groups of figures

and, where appropriate, providing them with the impression of movement,

in a format limited to 5” x 4”.

Central to his approach was the creation of a middle tone of grey to provide

a consistent contrast to the deep shadows and the white highlights

elsewhere in the picture. This is demonstrated in Ecce Homo on the front

wall of the building where the middle grey can be seen to extend from the

top to the bottom of the woodcut. It is known that Dürer adopted the clair-

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obscure style of ‘white-on-black-on-grey’ for his woodcuts after his second

trip to Venice in 15073 and his first woodcut using the technique was

produced in 1509, the year he began the Small Passion.

The subject matter of the Small Passion was biblical and covered the story

of the fall of man, the birth, death and resurrection of Christ, and concluded

with the last judgement. It was published in 1511 as book to be used for

devotional purposes. Each of the 37 images, including Ecce Homo, was

accompanied by a Latin inscription, hence the reference to the 'Latin

edition' of 1511.

Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528), who was born and brought up in Nuremberg,

has been described as the 'greatest German artist'4 and was central to the

Northern Renaissance. He was a renowned graphical artist, as well as an

outstanding painter, and was strongly influenced by his immediate

predecessors and contemporaries from the Italian Renaissance, particularly

Mantegna5. As with others at the time he was occupied by the renaissance

problems of perspective, proportion and harmony and he published as an

art theorist6. His graphical work retains iconic status to this day.

Tony Toole

4th November 2009

3 Erwin Panofsky. The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer. (Princeton, 1971). p133.4 E. H. Gombrich. The Story of Art.(London, 2008). p342.5 Harold Osborne. The Oxford Companion to Art. (Oxford, 1993). p338.6 Erwin Panofsky. The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer. (Princeton, 1971). pp242-286.

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Appendix: Compositional Features

Figure 1. Verticals

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Figure 2. Horizontals

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Figure 3. Diagonals

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Figure 4. Circles

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Figure 5. Golden Sections

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Education

Assignment: Learning to Look at the Visual Arts