The Last Judgment, from Speculum passionis domini nostri Ihesu Christi

Art Historical Context

In the bustling print workshops of early 16th-century Nuremberg Hans Schäufelein, a gifted pupil of Albrecht Dürer, created striking woodcut *The Last Judgment* in 1507. Featured in Ulrich Pinder's book *Speculum passion domini nostri Ihes Christi*—printed by Friedrich Peypus—it captures the climactic drama of Christian eschatology, Christ presides over the separation of the saved and damned amid scenes of suffering and divine retribution. As a woodcut on a modest sheet (9 7/16 × 6 1/2 in.), the print exemplifies the Northern Renaissance's mastery of this technique, where intricate carvings on wood blocks allowed for affordable, mass-produced religious imagery. Schäufele's dynamic composition, with swirling figures and expressive faces, reflects the era's intense piety and fascination with the Passion and Apocalypse, themes central to late medieval devotion amid Reformation stirrings. This work, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection (gift of Junius S. Morgan, 1919), highlights how prints democratized art, bringing vivid warnings of judgment to everyday believers and underscoring woodcuts' role in shaping popular faith.

About the Artist

Hans Schäufelein|Ulrich Pinder|Friedrich Peypus · 1480–1540

Hans Schäufelein (c. 1480–c. 1540) was a German painter and graphic artist of the Northern Renaissance whose career placed him at the heart of one of the most dynamic artistic environments in European history. As a young man, he entered the workshop of Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg, an experience that proved decisive: Dürer's meticulous approach to draughtsmanship, his mastery of printmaking, and hi...