The Harrowing of Hell, from the Engraved Passion

Sixteen or seventeen prints are thought to make up Dürer's Engraved Passion series, completed shortly after the artist returned from a second trip to Venice in 1507. In this series, Dürer employed the medium of engraving to produce extremely detailed images, striking when viewed both individually and in tandem. This series was the only of Dürer's passion cycles to be conceived of without an accompanying explicative text and was likely intended for a highly educated, aristocratic clientele. Often regarded as the artist's most refined and complex suite of images, the small engravings that make up this series were likely subject to up-close, prolonged contemplation by viewers who treasured their beauty as much as their edifying value.