The Crucifixion (십자가에 달리심)

 

 

(요 19:25)

예수의 십자가 곁에는 그 어머니와 이모와 글로바의 아내 마리아와 막달라 마리아가 섰는지라

 

 

 

 

 

Jheronimus Bosch ca. 1450 – 1516

The Calvary with Donor

oil on panel (71 × 59 cm) — ca. 1483

  Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels

Jheronimus Bosch biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

Please scroll down to read more information about this work.

 

This Bosch fits well into the iconographic tradition of the 15th century. It was not unusual for any artist to include one's patron in their work, but for Hieronymus Bosch it was. This is one exception. The triptych Adoration of the Magi is another.

The unknown patron is in fact referred to as ‘donor' in the title, suggesting the work was donated, presumably to a church.

The donor is seen kneeling at the foot of the Cross. To his right, Peter (with keys) seems to be introducing him to John the Evangelist, who in turn introduces him to Mary, who is praying to Jesus.

In the background the silhouette of a Brabant city is visible under a beautiful sky, in thin air. Bosch created depth by using different hues of green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucas Cranach the Elder 1472 – 1553

Crucifixion

oil on panel (138 × 99 cm) — 1503

  Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Lucas Cranach the Elder biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

To the left are the two criminals who were crucified together with Jesus (on the right). In the center are Mary and John the Evangelist.

This is an early work of Lucas Cranach's, made shortly after his Vienna period. Special about this work is that the crosses are not in line but together form a closed space, in which Mary and John are central.

 

 

 

 

 

Lucas Cranach the Elder 1472 – 1553

Crucifixion with Cardinal

oil on panel (158 × 112 cm) — between 1520 and 1529

  Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Lucas Cranach the Elder biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg kneels on a pillow before the crucified Jesus.

Lucas Cranach made this painting for the cardinal while he was a friend and follower of Martin Luther, the German church reformer. Luther was involved in a theological battle with the cardinal's catholic church.

Albrecht of Brandenburg was also a long time employer of Cranach's contemporary Matthias Grünewald.

 

 

 

 

Fra Angelico 1387 – 1455

The Crucifixion

tempera on panel (64 × 48 cm) — c. 1420–23

  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Fra Angelico biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

An exquisite panel by Fra Angelico, made with a gold ground.

Seated on horses Roman soldiers form a circle around the cross. In the foreground, Christ's mother Mary has fainted.

Next to the cross is a man holding a stick with a spunge. According to a tradition, the spunge was soaked in vinager and then offered to Jesus.

Blood can be seen dripping along Christ's arms. Several angels are flying around him.

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Gauguin 1848 – 1903

Breton Calvary (Green Christ)

oil on canvas (92 × 73 cm) — 1889

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

Many towns in Brittany have a calvary at a central spot: a sculpture with a crucifix. Gauguin saw the calvary in Nizon, and copied the women below the cross.

In the foreground is a local woman with a sheep.

In the spirit of symbolism Gauguin did not strive for a realistic depiction. He made a subjective and personal image.

The museum website says this about the work: "Massive simplified shapes, intense, often unrealistic colours, plain compartments outlined by solid lines, allow Gauguin to increase ｅxpression and suggestion."

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Gauguin 1848 – 1903

The Yellow Christ

oil on canvas (91 × 73 cm) — 1889

  Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (NY)

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

Please scroll down to read more information about this work.

 

Gauguin situated the well-known scene with three women under the cross in a landscape typical for Brittany. Many of his predecessors did the same, and that also goes for the contemporary dress of the women.

But the technique Gauguin used is innovative. The painting seems to exist out of compartments with a single colour, heavily outlined. The technique is called cloissonism, after a French word for compartments.

The autumn colours of the landscape return in the cross and in the crucified man.

Gauguin was inspired by the carved and painted crucifix he had seen in the chapel of Trémalo, outside Pont-Aven where he lived.

 

 

 

 

 

Matthias Grünewald ca. 1480 – 1528

Isenheim Altar - closed

oil on panel — 1510 - 1515

Unterlinden Museum, Colmar

Matthias Grünewald biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

The Isenheim Altar, with closed panels. Ref. Isenheim altar for more information on the altarpiece and for links to images of the altar with open panels.

 

 

 

 

Grünewald ca. 1480 – 1528

The Crucifixion

oil on panel (269 × 307 cm) — 1510-1515

  Unterlinden Museum, Colmar

Matthias Grünewald biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

The Isenheim Altarpiece. Here the central part with outer panels closed. Ref. Isenheim altar for more information on the altarpiece.

 

 

 

 

Jean de Beaumetz 1335 – 1396

Crucifixion

mixed techniques on panel (60 × 48 cm) — c. 1393

Musée du Louvre, Paris

Jean de Beaumetz biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

Please scroll down to read more information about this work.

 

A heavily bleeding Christ on the Cross, surrounded by the three Marys (to the left), John the Evangelist and a praying Carthusian monk.

This panel is one of 26 Jean and his workshop made for the Charterhouse of Champmol in Dijon. There was one panel for each cell in the monastery, plus two for the prior. Jean received the commission in 1388 but did not begin until 1390, because he was too busy with other projects. The panels were finished in 1395, when the gold leaf was applied.

This is one of two surviving panels. The other one is in Cleveland. The oak panels are covered with linen.

The panel is one of the earliest examples of French painting.

 

 

 

 

Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475 – 1564

Crucifixion with Mary and John

oil on panel (51 × 34 cm) — 16th century
private collection

Michelangelo Buonarroti biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

Please scroll down to read more information about this work.

 

A modest depiction of the crucifixion. Next to Jesus are two lamenting angels. Mary and John the Evangelist stand besides the cross. Under the cross is a scull, the traditional reference to the location: Golgotha, Place of the Scull.

In Rome Michelangelo was befriended to a group of intellectuals who sought a more spiritual approach of religion. That influence may be reflected in this painting without background: the background is irrelevant to the story, so why show it.

Around 1540 Michelangelo made a drawing with the Crucifixion for his friend Vittoria Colonna. It is similar to the painting, albeit that Mary and John are not shown. The drawing is in the British Museum in London.

The panel was not attributed to Michelangelo until 2010, together with a Pietà panel. There are indications that the master made it for his close friend Tommaso Cavalieri, a Roman nobleman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rogier van der Weyden 1399/1400 – 1464

The Crucifixion (Escorial)

oil on panel (325 × 192 cm) — c. 1455

  Monastery of El Escorial, San Lorenzo de El Escorial

Rogier van der Weyden biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

Please scroll down to read more information about this work.

 

This monumental panel by Rogier van der Weyden is in a bad shape due to several circumstances.

First of all it is a badly constructed panel. The joins of the thirteen planks were not made with much care. That has resulted in numerous cracks in the paint along the joins. This is most clearly visible just above Jesus' knees.

Secondly the panel was damaged during a fire in the Escorial in 1671. Escpecially the dark parts suffered from the heat.

Add a badly performed restoration, probably done around 1700. Luckily most of the additions could be removed in a later restoration.

Van der Weyden made this panel on his own initiative. He gave it to a Carthusian charterhouse in Scheut, near Brussels. In 1555 the monks sold it to Philip II of Spain, who put it in the Escorial.

Among Van der Weyden's remaining work this is the only panel with life size figures. It has been recorded that 16th century viewers were impressed by the three-dimensional quality. In the Scheut convent that may have been enforced even more by a curtain that partly hid the panel.

John and Mary are wearing grayish-white garments. The monochrome colours bring rest into the emotional scene. It also happens to be the dress colour of carthusian monks.

 

 

 

 

 

Rogier van der Weyden 1399/1400 – 1464

The Crucifixion (Vienna)

oil on panel (101 × 70 cm (central panel)) — c. 1445

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Rogier van der Weyden biography

 

This work is linked to John 19:25

 

The left panel shows Mary Magdalene, the right panel St. Veronica. In the middle, from left to right: John the Apostle, Mary, and the couple who paid for the painting.

The emotional state of the women is remarkable - Mary, mother of Christ, is the more emotional party, while Mary Magdalene is the more subdued. This is traditionally the other way round.

Ref. left panel and right panel.