The Man of Sorrows with his arms spread

At the age of only 12, Flemish graphic artist Johan Wierix, decades after Dürer’s death, made an equilateral copy of his engraving “Der SchIm ensmann mit Im Im” (“The Man of Sorrows with his arms spread out”), which was made around 1500. In order to demonstrate his ability, he clearly oriented himself to the template. Same Dürer, he shows Christ standing in front of the Kreuzesstamm as a redeemer figure. The figure almost completely fills the picture. The crown of thorns on the head and only clothed with a lozenge, it spreads its arms and presents its wounds. At Christ’s feet lies the rod of his scourge, the staff with the vinegar sponge, the soldier’s coat with the cubes and the skull of Adam. Together they demonstrate the overcoming of evil and salvation from sins. While the monogram is reminiscent of Dürer as the spiritual creator of the image idea, the characteristic age indication of the Wierix brothers integrates a reference to the copyist and the time of formation. Mauquoy-Hendrickx lists two states of the plate: with the age indication “Æ 12” and with the sign Claes Jansz. Visschers (see Mauquoy-Hendrickx I.93,527).