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A HISTORY OF WOOD-ENGRAVING

and were probably the work of the previous six years; they are full of force, and are characterized by tenderness of sympathy and fervor of devotion, as well as by the

Fig. 43.—The Descent into Hell From Dürer's "Smaller Passion."
Fig. 43.—The Descent into Hell From Dürer's "Smaller Passion."

Fig. 43.—The Descent into Hell From Dürer's "Smaller Passion."

imaginative insight and power of thought which distinguish all his works. They quickly became popular; several editions were issued, and they were copied by more than one engraver, especially by the famous Italian, Marc Antonio Raimondi, who reproduced the Smaller Passion on copper-plate. They marked an epoch in the history of wood-engraving. It is not possible to over-estimate the debt which