DÜRER, Albrecht
(b. 1471, Nürnberg, d. 1528, Nürnberg)

Pilate Washing his Hands (No. 9)

1512
Engraving, 117 x 75 mm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Sheet No. 9 of the Engraved Passion.

Golgotha is shown in the background. This scene is psychologically ineffective, almost like a surgeon washing his hands before an operation. The attention is drawn primarily to the young man pouring water and clad in a most peculiar costume. It is he who is in the limelight. The Moorish features of this young man are akin to some examples in Dürer's Dresden Sketchbook.