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The Crucifixion

Joos van Cleve (Netherlandish, about 1485–1540/1541)
about 1525

Medium/Technique Oil on panel
Dimensions 80.4 x 63.2 cm (31 5/8 x 24 7/8 in.)
Credit Line The Picture Fund
Accession Number12.170
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
One of the leading artists in sixteenth-century Antwerp, Joos combined such stylized and decorative elements as the arabesque flutter of Christ's loincloth with naturalistic details, including the greenish pallor of Christ's flesh. The weighty fall of the Virgin's cloak emphasizes her restrained grief, while Saint John's drapery reflects his agitation. Rather than rendering such details as the tiny party departing from the scene less distinctly to show that they are far away, Joos used color to demarcate distance-brown for the foreground, green for the middle ground, and blue for the background.

ProvenanceGottfried Christoph Beireis (b. 1730 - d. 1809), Helmstedt, Germany. 1881, private collection, Düsseldorf; 1881, sold from this private collection, through Oscar Eisenmann, Cassel, to Eduard Friedrich Weber (b. 1830 - d. 1907) for the Galerie Weber, Hamburg; Feburary 20-22, 1912, Galerie Weber sale, Lepke, Berlin, lot 84, sold to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 7, 1912)