Albrecht Dürer

Joseph Meder believed this to be a depiction of King David. However, on the basis of the similar physiognomy of the Penitent with the severed head on the two woodcuts devoted to Saint John the Baptist (see lot 88 and 89) and the similar dimensions of all three prints, it has also been suggested that the subject is Saint John. The complete lack of any attributes makes it impossible however to determine his identity of this figure with any certainty. Undoubtedly, the print must be seen in the context of the practise of self-flagellation as a widespread form of private devotion and Imitatio Christi in the early 16th Century.
The present lot is a particularly fine impression from the collection of Friedrich August II, King of Saxony.