Man of Sorrows

This unique “Man of Sorrows” woodcut is affixed to the large front board of a book. It must have been placed on the board during the binding process, as it covers the edges of the leather and the manuscript scraps on the inner spine, and because holes from the book’s hinges pierce the print. It is otherwise largely undamaged, suggesting that it had been recently printed and colored. Though the board has long been separated from the rest of the book’s binding, its size and hardware remnants suggest the volume was an ecclesiastical folio such as a missal. The frontal view of Christ that greeted the viewer on opening the book would have been particularly effective when it was placed upright on a lectern toward a priest reading from it, almost as if the apparition were emerging from the binding itself. All other impressions were presumably destroyed as wall decorations.