Antwerp Descent from Cross. The Descent from the Cross is the central panel of a triptych painting by Peter Paul Rubens in 1612-1614.
It is still in its original place, the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp, Belgium, along with another great altarpiece The Elevation of the Cross. The subject was one Rubens returned to again and again in his career.
This particular work was commissioned on September 7, 1611, by the Confraternity of the Arquebusiers, whose Patron Saint was St. Christopher. Although essentially Baroque, the oil on panel piece is rooted in the Venetian tradition, and likely influenced by the work of Daniele da Volterra, Federico Barocci and Cigoli, amongst others.
In its composition and use of light, the triptych recalls Caravaggio's Roman period. Theophile Silvestre wrote, in his On Rubens' Descent from the Cross-1868: The principal subject is composed of nine figures: at the top of two ladders, workers are lowering the body of Christ with the aid of a shroud which one of them holds in his teeth, the other in the left hand.
Bracing themselves firmly against the arms of the cross, each bends forward to guide the Christ with the hand that is left free while St. John, with one foot on the ladder and his back arched, supports him most energetically. One of Savior's feet comes to rest on the beautiful shoulder of the Magdalene, grazing her golden hair.Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, placed midway
It is still in its original place, the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp, Belgium, along with another great altarpiece The Elevation of the Cross. The subject was one Rubens returned to again and again in his career.
This particular work was commissioned on September 7, 1611, by the Confraternity of the Arquebusiers, whose Patron Saint was St. Christopher. Although essentially Baroque, the oil on panel piece is rooted in the Venetian tradition, and likely influenced by the work of Daniele da Volterra, Federico Barocci and Cigoli, amongst others.
In its composition and use of light, the triptych recalls Caravaggio's Roman period. Theophile Silvestre wrote, in his On Rubens' Descent from the Cross-1868: The principal subject is composed of nine figures: at the top of two ladders, workers are lowering the body of Christ with the aid of a shroud which one of them holds in his teeth, the other in the left hand.
Bracing themselves firmly against the arms of the cross, each bends forward to guide the Christ with the hand that is left free while St. John, with one foot on the ladder and his back arched, supports him most energetically. One of Savior's feet comes to rest on the beautiful shoulder of the Magdalene, grazing her golden hair.Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, placed midway
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