Cleveland Museum of Art

Ascension of Christ

Albrecht Dürer

Date

c. 1515

Medium

pen and brown ink

Culture

Germany

Department

Drawings

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Forty days after his Resurrection, Christ made his final appearance to his apostles. The story of the Ascension (Acts 1:9-12) tells that Christ's apostles were standing with him on the Mount of Olives when he was lifted up and taken to heaven in a cloud. Dürer depicted Christ with the traditional signs of his role as world saviour-making a gesture of blessing with his right hand and holding a cross-topped globe in his left. The artist included cherubs in the cloud, along with Christ's footprints, which, according to later tradition, were preserved on the Mount of Olives.

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