The Crucifixion
- British artist
British Artist, The Crucifixion, About 1395.Tempera and oil paint with gilded tin relief on oak panel; 39 7/8 × 21 1/2 in. (101.3 × 54.6 cm). Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2020.7
This picture of the Crucifixion of Jesus dates from a time when England was Roman Catholic. It is one of very few paintings to survive the widespread destruction of religious imagery following Henry VIII’s establishment of the Church of England. Painted on a panel of oak wood, its small size suggests it was made as an altarpiece for a private chapel or for personal devotion. Jesus is shown nailed to the cross, wearing a crown of thorns. In the foreground at left is the Virgin Mary, her swooning body supported by one of the Holy Women. Behind the Virgin the beardless figure of St. John the Evangelist gazes up at Jesus while reaching out to support Mary. In the foreground at right stands a Roman centurion, depicted as a fashionable fourteenth-century gentleman. The picture was painted in the International Style, so named because of its wide popularity throughout Europe and England in the late Middle Ages. The elegant, refined style was characterized by slender, graceful figures and attention to luxurious materials – fabrics, jewels, and gold.
- “Treasures from the Berger Collection: British Paintings 1400-2000” — Denver Art Museum, 10/2/2014 – 9/9/2018
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