Constantijn van Renesse

Dutch, 1626 - 1680

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The lifeless body of a bearded young man partly wrapped in an ivory cloth is being lowered from a cross to a group of people at its foot in this vertical painting. All the people have peachy or pale skin, and most are dressed in cream white and shades of brown. The body and head of the dead man, Jesus, slump to our left, eyes closed and mouth hanging open. His arms and hands are streaked with red, and drips of blood dot his head. Two men on ladders propped against the back of the cross reach over the top crossbar, and one man on our right holds Jesus’s left wrist. A long white cloth is draped over the crossbar and falls to wrap around Jesus’s hips. Two more men stand on the ladders on either side of the cross, one with his arm around Jesus’s torso while the other reaches forward to hold a torch that dramatically lights the cluster of bodies. An older man with white hair and beard, wearing a scarlet-red tunic, stands in front and cradles the hips and legs of Jesus as he is lowered. Six people stand to the right of the old man and the cross. A strong light falls on the face of a pale, older woman. Her eyes are closed, her mouth open, and her arms limp as she is caught by the people around her. The men in the group wear hats and the women’s heads are covered with scarves. From the shadows to the left of the cross, near the edge of the painting, the pale face of a woman peers onto the scene. The landscape behind the cross and group is deep in shadow, but rust-red streaks line the horizon in the distance.
Dutch 17th Century, Constantijn van Renesse, The Descent from the Cross, 1650/1652, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.61

The Descent from the Cross

Dutch 17th Century, Constantijn van Renesse · 1650/1652 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.9.61

Constantijn van Renesse, Conviviality Near the Inn, early 1650s, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.42

Conviviality Near the Inn

Constantijn van Renesse · early 1650s · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.136.42

Bibliography

1907

  • Edited by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart 1907-1950, 26:160

1978

  • Vermeeren, Karel. “Constantijn Daniël van Renesse, zijn leven en zijn werken (I).” De kroniek van het Rembrandhuis 30 (1978): 3–23; 31 (1979): 27–32.

1983

  • Sumowski, Werner. Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. 6 vols. Landau, 1983: 4: 2469–2478.