sharply foreshortened, with just part of his far hand
shown, his body hanging forward, belly protruding,
legs straight, and feet resting on a wooden footrest.
However, in place of the classicizing hair and calm
expression of the good thief in the drawing, the bad thief
in the woodcut is shown with wildly streaming hair, as
is his counterpart on the other side of Christ, both of
whom look away from him. In addition the Good Thief
is more generally related to the representation of the
same figure in the Calvary drawing in the Kunstmuseum
Basel (Strauss 1974, vol. 2, no. 1505/22), usually given to
Schaufelein, which was made in preparation for the cen-
tral panel of the Ober-Sankt-Veit altarpiece. The basic
pose and proportions are similar, though the figure in the
Basel drawing is shown with the right knee slightly bent
and in a less foreshortened pose. The Museum's Good
Thief would appear to belong to the period in which
these representations of the Crucifixion were made, that
is, around 1503 -1505, though it is not possible to connect
it directly with any of them without further evidence.
The figure in the Museum's drawing undoubtedly
was made from a studio model and first sketched rather
quickly. The forms were better defined as Durer went
over the outline in most areas with a stronger stroke,
which was also employed for the principal divisions of
the chest and abdomen. The figure was then modeled,
using a combination of thin, parallel lines, cross-
hatching, and short, rapidly repeated strokes. The cross
was drawn after the figure was completed. The model-
ing system and graphic means are quite similar to those
found in a slightly earlier study of a nude woman seen
from behind, now in the Sachsische Landesbibliothek,
Dresden (inv. R-i47,.fol. i64r; Strauss 1974, vol. 2, no.
1500/14).
i. The attribution of the Museum's drawing to Durer is sup-
ported by E. Schilling in a letter to Winzinger, October 16,
1962.
292 GERMAN SCHOOL • DURER