Christ on the Cross

c. 1460

German 15th Century

Associated Names
German 15th Century

Artist

The image shows a depiction of three figures centered around the crucifixion scene. The central figure is Jesus on a cross, with his arms outstretched and nailed to the wooden beams. He is wearing a crown of thorns and is clad in a simple cloth around his waist. His head is tilted downward, and his long hair and beard frame his face. On either side of Jesus are two individuals. To the left, a woman wearing a long robe and a head covering stands with her hands crossed in front of her. On the right is a man with curly hair and wearing a long robe. The background features the depiction of a sun and a moon in the sky, with a grassy hill underfoot and a skull at the base of the cross. The scene is framed in a rectangular border.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut, hand-colored in red lake, tan, yellow, green, and gray on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 19.2 × 13.2 cm (7 9/16 × 5 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.475

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, Vol. *, no. 372, State d

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Gilhofer and Ranschburg, Luzern, Cat. XVI (1929), no. 1 and Cat. XVIII (1929), no. 2); purchased 18 June 1929 by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA (L1760b and L1932d); gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1957

  • The Life of Christ in Prints, 14 venue touring exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts (J.B. Speed Museum, Louisville, KY; Grand Rapids Art Gallery, MI; Time, Inc., New York, NY; Washington County Museum, Hagerstown, MD; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO; Newcomb College, New Orleans, LA; Wells College, Aurora, NY; Mississippi Art Association, Jackson, MS; Calgary Allied Arts Centre, Alberta, Canada; Edmonton Art Gallery, Alberta, Canada; Sackville Art Association, New Brunswick, Canada; and Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba, Canada), 1957-1960, no cat.

1965

  • Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965-1966, no. 50, repro.

1969

  • Symbols in Transformation: Iconographic Themes at the Time of the Reformation, Princeton University Art Museum, 1969, no. 34, 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. 50.

Watermarks

to be identified

Wikidata ID

Q64952910

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