Passion and Power: German Prints in the Age of Dürer presents more than 80 prints and rare books from the permanent collection of the Davison Art Center and the Wesleyan University Library, including 33 prints by Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528) as well as prints by his contemporaries Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, 1472–1553) and the “Little Masters”—Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500–1550) and Georg Pencz (German, ca. 1500–1550). Arranged thematically, the exhibition explores the fascination with the Apocalypse, printmaking and the rise of the Reformation, the use of prints as propaganda for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and the new interest in scientific observation and the natural world.

Passion and Power takes the viewer back to a time of tumultuous change accelerated by the spread of printed images and printed books. The exhibition was curated by Wesleyan University students Flora Donovan ’16, Rachel Earnhardt ’17, Julia Goetze, Parker Green ’16, Lara Hetzel ’17, Melissa Joskow ’18, Amanda Larsen ’18, Daniel Lee ’16, Sharifa Lookman ’17, Anna Model ’16, Page Nelson ’17, Penny Snyder ’16, and Madeline Woods ’16. The students were enrolled in ARHA 360, Museum Studies, taught by Clare Rogan, Curator of the Davison Art Center and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Art History.