The Crucifixion: Central Panel

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Christ hangs from a T-shaped cross. Sorrowing angels circle above him in a stormy sky, while the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist stand on either side, wringing their hands. The skull – seen from beneath and minus its jaw bone – is probably that of Adam, the first man, but it’s also a reference to Golgotha (‘the place of the skull’), where Christ was crucified.

This image of the Crucifixion forms the central panel of a triptych (a painting in three parts) that was probably made in the workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aalst. It was evidently a popular composition: several versions of it survive.

This panel was transferred to canvas in the nineteenth century, perhaps because one of the oak boards on which it was made had split vertically through Christ’s left wrist.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Crucifixion: Central Panel

Date

probably 1525-35

Medium

Oil on canvas, transferred from oak

Measurements

H 75.6 x W 93.4 cm

Accession number

NG1088.1

Acquisition method

Bequeathed by Mrs Joseph H. Green, 1880

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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