Christ on the Cross

c. 1500

German 15th Century

Associated Names
German 15th Century

Artist

Three individuals gather around a wooden cross. The central figure is depicted affixed to the cross, with outstretched arms bound to the crossbeam. This individual has a somber expression, closed eyes, a beard, long dark hair, and wears a cloth around the waist. A crown of thorns is placed upon their head, with marks of injury and blood visible on the body. To the left, a figure in a hooded robe holds what appears to be a book. To the right, another figure in a robe holds a book as well. At the base of the cross lies a skull and several bones on the ground. The background shows fields extending to a horizon meeting a blue sky, with trees and a small building in the distance.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut, hand-colored in blue, green, lavender, yellow, brown, red, and orange on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 21.6 × 17 cm (8 1/2 × 6 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.484

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, Vol. *, no. 433, State m

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Martin Aufhäuser [1875-1944], Munich, Holland, and Los Angeles; [1] sold 1939 via his son Walter Aufhäuser to Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA (L.1706c and L.1932d); gift to NGA, 1943.
[1] For more information on Aufhäuser's collection, see Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Papers, Box 9; Lessing J. Rosenwald, Recollections of a Collector, Jenkintown, Pa, 1976, pp. 14-18, and Richard S. Field, Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts, Washington, D.C., 1965, Preface (np).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1965

  • Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965-1966, no. 63, repro.

Bibliography

1926

  • Schreiber, Wilhelm Ludwig. Handbuch de Holz- und Metailschnitte des XV Jahrhunderts. 8 vols. Leipzig: Verlag Karl W. Hierseman, 1926-1930.

1965

  • Field, Richard S. Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1965: no. 63.

Watermarks

fragment to be identified

Wikidata ID

Q64952917

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