La Passione

Verona: Officina Bodoni, 1971. Limited Edition. Fine. Albrecht Dürer. 8vo; 9 x 6 in. (230 x 153 mm); 222 pp. One of 135 copies on Magnani paper, Dante type. 37 woodcut illustrations after Dürer with accompanying poetic text by Fra' Benedictus Chelidonius. Original russet morocco-backed boards, gilt fillets and titlling, t.e.g., others uncut, plastic dust-jacket, leather-tipped board slip-case.

[Mardersteig 171]. In the years 1508 to 1511 Albrecht Dürer created three famous sets of engravings, two Passion of Christ and the Life of Mary. Among them the Passio Christi, known as the "Small Passion" to distunguished it from the one with bigger format, is considered DÜRER'S MASTERPIECE.
This edition was issued to mark the 500th anniversary of Albrech Dürer's birth. It includes 37 images, including the engraving on the frontispiece, and is notable for the artist's focus on the essence of depiction. The works were cut in wood by the Italian master-engraver Leonardo Farina. As in the first and very rare 1511 edition, this volume's verses are in latin, commissioned by Dürer for this work from the monk Benedictus Chelidonius / Benedikt Schwalbe. The Italian translation by the poet Enzio Cetragnolo is included in the book, as well as an essay by the publisher, Giovanni Mardersteig, on the work of Dürer and the verses of Benedikt Schwalbe.