Raising of Cross. The Elevation of the Cross is the name of two paintings, a very large triptych in oil on panel and a much smaller oil on paper painting.
Both pieces were painted by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp, Belgium, the original in 1610 and the latter in 1638. The original is in the Cathedral of Our Lady, as the church for which it was painted has been destroyed.
The smaller version is now in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada. Another smaller triptych with a different composition, and an oil study, are in the Louvre in Paris.
Peter Paul Rubens painted the triptych The Elevation of the Cross after returning to Antwerp from Italy in 1610-1611 as commissioned by the church authorities of the Church of St. Walburga. Cornelis van der Geest, a wealthy merchant and churchwarden of the Church of St. Walburga, secured this commission for Rubens and funded the majority of the project.
Under Napoleon's rule, the emperor took the painting, along with Peter Paul Rubens's The Descent from the Cross, to Paris. The paintings were returned to Antwerp in 1815, but since St. Walburga had been destroyed, they were placed in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp instead. The Antwerp triptych was positioned above the high altar preceded by a set of stairs, making it visible from a great distance in the vast Gothic cathedral of St. Walburga. This height was unusual for an altarpiece indicating
Both pieces were painted by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp, Belgium, the original in 1610 and the latter in 1638. The original is in the Cathedral of Our Lady, as the church for which it was painted has been destroyed.
The smaller version is now in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada. Another smaller triptych with a different composition, and an oil study, are in the Louvre in Paris.
Peter Paul Rubens painted the triptych The Elevation of the Cross after returning to Antwerp from Italy in 1610-1611 as commissioned by the church authorities of the Church of St. Walburga. Cornelis van der Geest, a wealthy merchant and churchwarden of the Church of St. Walburga, secured this commission for Rubens and funded the majority of the project.
Under Napoleon's rule, the emperor took the painting, along with Peter Paul Rubens's The Descent from the Cross, to Paris. The paintings were returned to Antwerp in 1815, but since St. Walburga had been destroyed, they were placed in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp instead. The Antwerp triptych was positioned above the high altar preceded by a set of stairs, making it visible from a great distance in the vast Gothic cathedral of St. Walburga. This height was unusual for an altarpiece indicating
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