The Crucifixion

c. 1400/1410

Master of Saint Veronica

Artist, German, active c. 1395/1420

A mostly nude man hangs by his outstretched hands from a wooden cross, and is flanked by two pairs of people in this vertical painting. The cross and four people at its foot fill the composition. All the people have pale skin, and the scene is set in front of a shiny gold background. Blood trickles from a ring of thorns around the man’s head, over chestnut-brown hair. Eyes closed, his face tips to his right, our left, to rest on his shoulder, and his body faces us. His hips are wrapped in a translucent white cloth. Blood drips from the nails piercing his hands and overlapping feet on the T-shaped cross, and from a wound over his right ribs. His head is encircled with a flat, gold, disk-like halo. A plaque at the top of the cross, over his head, reads “INRI.” At the foot of the cross, to our left, a balding man with a long, white beard, wearing a gold brocade tunic under a red cape, kneels with his head tipped back and eyelids lowered. Behind him and to our left, a woman wearing a long lapis-blue robe that covers her head and body stands facing us with her hands crossed across her chest. She holds a piece of white cloth and has tears on her cheeks. She also has a gold halo. Another man kneels to our right of the cross. He wears a white robe and his hair is cut into a ring that encircles his head. He looks up at the cross. Along the right edge of the panel, a person with long blond hair surrounded by a halo stands with fingers interlaced in prayer, looking toward the cross. This person’s robe is rose pink lined with olive green, and it falls over a coral-pink garment beneath. Five tiny angels wearing royal-blue garments flit about, each catching the blood from the man’s hands, side, and feet in golden chalices. The fifth angel flits to our right, mirroring the angel catching blood from the gash on the opposite side. The angels’ wings were punched into the gold background, but are difficult to make out now. The surface of the panel is covered with a network of fine cracks, and some of the red layer under the gold shows through.

Media Options

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The anonymous master who painted this work was the leading painter in Cologne shortly after 1400. His name derives from his finest work, Saint Veronica with the Sudarium, preserved in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. In this Crucifixion the attenuated boneless figures, the sinuous contours of the drapery folds, and the delicate colors set off against the gold ground are all hallmarks of the International Gothic style. The subject is Christ's suffering and death on the cross and the grief of the weeping Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist; yet, the sorrow of the event is softened by the figures' gentle expressions. Even the tiny angels who catch the blood flowing from Christ's wounds add a decorative and fanciful touch.

The painting was probably used as a focus for prayers and meditation by a Carthusian monk, since a member of that monastic order is shown kneeling at the right of the cross. The painting's small size would make it suitable for such use, probably in the monk's cell.

Cologne was the largest and most densely populated city in Germany at the end of the Middle Ages. It supported a wealthy middle class and many religious institutions, including the Charterhouse of Saint Barbara, for which this Crucifixion may have been painted.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/german-painting-fifteenth-through-seventeenth-centuries.pdf

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (design area): 40.7 × 25.2 cm (16 × 9 15/16 in.)
    framed (engaged frame): 46.2 × 31.1 × 3 cm (18 3/16 × 12 1/4 × 1 3/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1961.9.29

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Possibly the Carthusian monastery of Saint Barbara, Cologne.[1] Richard von Schnitzler [1855-1938], Cologne, by 1917 until at least 1931.[2] (Pinakos, Inc. [Rudolf Heinemann]); sold 1953 to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York);[3] purchased 1954 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] Although unverified it is possible, as Eisler first suggested, that The Crucifixion was originally located in the Charterhouse of Saint Barbara in Cologne, the city where the Master of Saint Veronica was active as well as the birthplace of Saint Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order. The Charterhouse in Cologne was a large and important institution that underwent a major building campaign between 1391 and 1405. (see J.J. Merlo, "Kunst und Kunsthandwerk im Karthäuserkloster zu Köln", Annalen des historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein insbesondere die alte Erzdiöcese Köln, 45 (1886): 1-2. See also Paul Clemen, Ludwig Arntz, Hugo Rahtgens, Heinrich Neu, and Hans Vogts, Die Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt Köln, vol. 2, part 3 (Düsseldorf, 1934), 137-162, and Otto Braunsberger, "Die Kölner Kartause. Erinnerungen aus alter Zeit," Stimmen der Zeit. Katholische Monatschrift für das Geistesleben der Gegenwart, 94 (1918): 134-152. If the Gallery's panel were in the Charterhouse, it might have remained there until 1794 when the monastery was dispersed.) Given the Order's emphasis on solitary contemplation and devotion, it would seem likely that the Gallery's panel adorned the cell of a single monk. It is possible that it was originally part of a commission for multiple images, as was the case with the Crucifixions painted by Jean de Beaumetz and his shop for the Charterhouse at Champmol. (Noted by Colin Eisler, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. (Oxford, 1977), 1.
[2] Walter Bombe, "Die Sammlung Dr. Richard von Schnitzler in Cöln." Der Cicerone 9 (1917): 366. Published in Otto Helmut Förster, Die Sammlung Dr. Richard von Schnitzler, Munich, 1931: 21, no. 1, pl. 1. Unless sold by Schnitzler between 1931 and his death in 1938, the painting was inherited by his two daughters, Edith and Eriak von Schröder.
[3] M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Stock book no. 10, p. 104, no.A5322, and Sales book no. 17, p. 37 (copies in NGA curatorial files). A pencilled notation indicates that the panel was previously owned by a Dr. Howard in partnership with Mont and Newhouse.
[4] See The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2121.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1922

  • Alte Malerei aus kölnischem Privatbeitz, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, 1922, no. 60, as by Follower of Meister Wilhelm.

1961

  • Der Meister des Bartholomäus-Altares, der Meister des Aachener Altares. Kölner Maler der Spätgotik, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, 1961, unnumbered, unpaginated catalogue insert.

2011

  • Glanz und Grösse des Mittelalters - Kölner Meisterwerke aus den grossen Sammlungen der Welt, Museum Schnütgen, Cologne, 2011- 2012, no. 202, repro.

2019

  • Zeitenwende 1400: die goldene Tafel als europäisches Meisterwerk, Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover, Hannover, 2019 - 2020, no. 7, repro.

Bibliography

1907

  • Vollmer, Hans, ed. "Wynrich (Winrich), Hermann, Maler von Wesel." In Thieme-Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 36(1947):333, 37(1950):344.

1917

  • Bombe, Walter. "Die Sammlung Dr. Richard von Schnitzler in Cöln." Der Cicerone 9, no. 21/22 (1917): 362, 366, repro.

1920

  • Lüthgen, Eugen. Die abendländische Kunst des 15. Jahrhunderts. Bonn and Leipzig, 1920: 55-57, 111, pl. 29.

1921

  • Lüthgen, Eugen. Rheinische Kunst des Mittelalters aus kölner Privatbesitz. Bonn and Leipzig, 1921: 97, pl. 63.

1922

  • Förster, Otto Helmut. "Die Zeit und der Markt, Ausstellungen: Köln." Der Cicerone 14, no. 24 (1922): 984.

1923

  • Förster, Otto Helmut. Die Kölnische Malerei. Von Meister Wilhelm bis Stephan Lochner. Cologne, 1923: 41, frontispiece.

1931

  • Förster, Otto Helmut. Die Sammlung Dr. Richard von Schnitzler. Munich, 1931: 21, no. 1, pl. 1.

1934

  • Stange, Alfred. Deutsche Malerei der Gotik. 11 vols. Berlin and Munich, 1934-1961. Berlin, 1938: 3:58, fig. 63.

1935

  • Schweitzer, Klaus-Heinrich. Der Veronikameister und sein Kreis. Studien zur kölnischen Kunst um 1400. Würzburg, 1935: 70-71.

1950

  • Pieper, Paul. "Die `Notgottes' in Landesmuseum Münster." Westfalen 28 (1950): 190-191.

1956

  • Frankfurter, Alfred. "Crystal Anniversary in the Capital." Art News 55, no. 1 (March 1956): 35.

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 126, no. 48, repro.

1957

  • Förster, Otto Helmut. "Um den Meister der Veronika." Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 19 (1957): 245.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 298, repro.

1960

  • Broadley Hugh T. German Painting in the National Gallery of Art (Booklet no. 9 in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC). Washington, 1960: 2, 14-15, color repro.

1961

  • Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 18, 218, fig. 15.

  • Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Der Meister des Bartholomäus-Altares, der Meister des Aachener Altares: Kölner Maler der Spätgotik. Exh. cat. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, 1961: tipped-sheet, following page 119. (The NGA painting was in the museum in Cologne during the time of the exhibition, and was recommended in the catalog, but not in the exhibition.)

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 304, repro.

1965

  • Oldemeyer, Gertrude. "Die Darstellung des gekreuzigten Christus in der Kunst des `Weichen Stils'." Ph.D. dissertation, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg in Breisgau. Aachen, 1965: 252.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 87.

1967

  • Stange, Alfred. Kritisches Verzeichnis der deutschen Tafelbilder vor Dürer. 3 vols. Munich, 1967: 1:24, no. 35.

1968

  • European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 76, repro.

1970

  • Pieper, Paul. "Veronika--Meister der hl. Veronika." In Festschrift für Gert von der Osten. Cologne, 1970: 93.

1974

  • Wallrath, Rolf, ed. Vor Stefan Lochner: Die Kölner Maler von 1300 bis 1430. Exh. cat. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, 1974: 38-39, 84, 85, 87, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 226, repro.

1977

  • Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 1-2, fig. 1.

1978

  • Zehnder, Frank Gütner. "Der kleine Kalvarienberg." In Die Parler und der schöne Stil 1350-1400: europäische Kunst unter den Luxemburgern. Edited by Anton Legner. 5 vols. Exh. cat. Kunsthalle, Cologne, 1978: 1:210.

1981

  • Zehnder, Frank Günter. "Der Meister der Hl. Veronika." Ph.D. dissertation, Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn. Sankt Augustin, 1981: 86, 87, 91-95, Katalog 52, 54-56, no. 8, Tafel 1.

1984

  • "Meister der heiligen Veronika." In Lexikon der Kunst. 5 vols. Berlin, 1984: 3:251.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: no. 149, repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 259, repro.

1986

  • Budde, Rainer. Köln und seine Maler 1300-1500. Cologne, 1986: 42, 209, no. 23, fig. 27.

  • Pieper, Paul. Die deutschen, niederländischen und italienischen Tafelbilder bis um 1530. (Bestandskatalogue, Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Münster, edited by Klaus Bussmann.) Münster, 1986: 405.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 57, color repro.

1993

  • Hand, John Oliver, with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield. German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1993: 141-145, color repro. 143.

1995

  • Löcher, Kurt. Review of German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries, by John Oliver Hand with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield. Kunstchronik 43 no. 1 (January 1995): 18.

1998

  • Faxon, Alicia Craig and Nancy Frazier. "Crucifixion." In Encyclopedia of Iconography. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 1:196.

2000

  • Corley, Brigitte. Painting and Patronage in Cologne, 1300-1500. Turnhout, 2000: 80, 93, 96, 98, 108, fig. 48, 50.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 62-63, no. 47, color repro.

2012

  • Kemperdick, Stephan. "From Master Wilhelm to Master Wilhelm: The Identity of the Cologne Master of St Veronica." The Burlington Magazine 154 (February 2012): 89, 90, color fig. 2.

2016

  • National Gallery of Art. Highlights from the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Washington, 2016: 43, repro.

Inscriptions

at top of cross: I.N.R.I.; in Mary's halo: (possibly) salv [illegible] m[?]ar[?]ia:m[?]a; in Christ's halo: [illegible]; in John's halo: :s:Joha[illegible]:evia[illegible]

Wikidata ID

Q20173339

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