Fourth German Edition

Die war Nachvolgung Christi.
Augsburg: Johann Schönsperger, 26 July 1498.

(06383)

Perhaps the most popular theme for frontispiece illustrations of the Imitatio Christi was that of Christ carrying the Cross on the road to Calvary. An early example is the woodcut for this fourth German edition. In this image, based on an engraving of ca. 1475 by Martin Schongauer, Christ looks directly out at the reader, while Simon of Cyrene assists with the Cross he carries. This echoes the first line of the text, “He that followeth me....”