The descent from the cross

who painted the descent from the cross

This is the central panel of a triptych, whose lateral wings have disappeared. It is an oil painting on wood; the support is made up of eleven Baltic oak boards assembled vertically. The work is rectangular in shape, with a projection in the center of the upper part, on which is the cross and a young man perched on the ladder, who has helped to lower the corpse.

The theme is religious, typical of Gothic painting: Christ descended from the cross. The Gospels speak of it: Joseph of Arimathea asked Pontius Pilate to let him take the body of Jesus Christ for burial. Although the New Testament does not describe it in detail, painting, and art in general, has depicted it again and again.

Rogier van der Weyden fits the figures in a landscape space, in the form of an urn. The background is smooth, gold-colored, resembling a board; thus, the figures look like polychrome sculptures. Traditionally, sculptural altarpieces were more expensive and sought after than painted ones; it can be said that the artist recreated pictorially a group of figures that would have been much more expensive in three-dimensional sculpture. The gold background also has a symbolic meaning, as it was already given in Egypt: it symbolizes eternity and is characteristic of the divine.

the descent from the cross (rubens)

We observe primary colors such as red, or white, which occupy the center of the painting in a very striking way. Then he uses other secondary colors such as blue, green, orange, gray and others.

The type of light used is a lateral light (coming from the right), this light generates chiaroscuro (inspired by Caravaggio, to highlight the Christ), it means that the illuminated areas, have a great detail, but the dark areas are blurred, thus generating great contrasts.

The perspective used in this pictorial work is an aerial perspective. The air modifies the perception of distance, light and color. It blurs the objects in relation to how close or how far away they are.

The elements that allow the generation of space in the painting are: chiaroscuro, large foreshortenings, perspective, the placement of the figures one behind the other also generates the sensation of space.

Different resources have been used to generate a sensation of movement such as: the lines, the gestures and expressions of the figures (suffering, sorrow…), but not only this but also the lights with that powerful chiaroscuro, and the chromatic tonalities.

wikipedia

She is Mary the wife of Cleopas. She was supposedly one of the women present at the Crucifixion of Christ.Like Mary Magdalene, she is weeping at one end of the painting, in this case on the left side. She covers her eyes because she cannot suppress her tears.St. John



The marbled tone of Christ’s body contrasts with the whiteness of his linen. This figure is tragic but beautiful. His five blood wounds and pale crown of thorns somehow otherwise adorn his blameless body.The strong red color used in the blood and garments of St. John, Mary Magdalene and Joseph serves two purposes:

christ washing the disciples’ feetpainting by tintoretto

This is the central panel of a triptych, whose lateral wings have disappeared. It is an oil painting on wood; the support is made up of eleven Baltic oak boards assembled vertically. The work is rectangular in shape, with a projection in the center of the upper part, on which is the cross and a young man perched on the ladder, who has helped to lower the corpse.

The theme is religious, typical of Gothic painting: Christ descended from the cross. The Gospels speak of it: Joseph of Arimathea asked Pontius Pilate to let him take the body of Jesus Christ for burial. Although the New Testament does not describe it in detail, painting, and art in general, has depicted it again and again.

Rogier van der Weyden fits the figures in a landscape space, in the form of an urn. The background is smooth, gold-colored, resembling a board; thus, the figures look like polychrome sculptures. Traditionally, sculptural altarpieces were more expensive and sought after than painted ones; it can be said that the artist recreated pictorially a group of figures that would have been much more expensive in three-dimensional sculpture. The gold background also has a symbolic meaning, as it was already given in Egypt: it symbolizes eternity and is characteristic of the divine.