Artwork has long been an expression of religious ideas, beliefs, and inspiration. Artists from every age has recreated the events of the Bible and depicted them with creativity, color, and care. I have chosen pieces regarding the Crucifixo or Crucifixion of Christ. It is beyond my ability to display every promenant and obscure work. The Crucifixion has been painted by so many people and in so many periods of history that it would likely be impossible to find them all and even contain them on a computer.
This painting conveys the early history of Christianity, when it was sacreligious to show Christ's face. What is compelling about this piece is that it looks ancient, but very well could have been painted recently on plastarded wall. The fact that Jesus' face is not distinqusihable means that anyone can look at this image and imagine how they see the Lord. It is not personal and does not denoate a certain ethnic or tribe. His hair is an orange which is intriguing because Jospheus records seeing Christ and saying, "He had light eyes and light hair." The body of the Crucified is pale white which is likely an allusion to "Corpus" meaning the corpse. This indicates He has already died and is descending into hell to preach to the dead before His Ressurection. The use of the read color background could allude to "His Passion" and is fitting to represent his blood which was spilt for all mankind.
Here is a much more orthodox depiction of the Crucifixion. Christ is fully rendered and his face is the traditional Greek/Eastern copy that comes from Byzantine Empire and is said to have come from Shroud of Turin, the viel that covered Jesus' face in the Garden Tomb. Here a halo is most visablly scene around Christ's head, denoting His holiness. Halos came out of Middle Ages to help the uneducated quickly find a patron saint or the Savior. In this painting blood is pouring forth from Christ's side to Mary, His Mother and on the right is likely St. John who leaned against Christ's chest or better known as the Beloved Disciple who wrote the Gospel According to John and Revelation. The background is gold, which is traditional color used in Byzantine or Greek artistry. It gives the sense of heavenliness and transcendence.
This piece is very complex. It has the essential scene of Christ being crucified but also plethoral of things happening around him. This painting is called "Christ and His Fruits." You can see that the cross has branches and that it looks like a tree with leaves at the top containing mysterious beings; perhaps Saints. Below are people and beasts, possibly denoting to the Second Coming and the rider in specific being the raising of the dead on Judgement Day. The Branches and roots attached to the cross are significant because in an epistle from Paul it says, "We are grafted into God's tree. The Jews are roots and we are branches." (Romans 11).
Here is another tempera painting of Christ on the cross. This particular painting deviates from many orthodox pieces in that is depicts crowd at Jesus' crucifixion. It is difficult to make out who everyone is. The lady at the feet of Christ is likely Mary, Martha's Sister who it is said, "sat at Jesus' feet." The woman to the right in pink is probably Madonna or Mary, Mother of Jesus. The choice of pink is quite interesting, since most Madonna are clad in black, deep blue, red, and white. Take notice of the six cherub angels around the cross; this will become a motif in many depictions of the Crucifixion.
Diedtrich Durer is the painter who created this piece. This is a cut version that leaves Christ's legs and feet out. What is very unique about this piece is the black background. This darkness detonates the period of the Passion when the sky grew dark and blackness fell upon Golgotha. It is also an allusion to death, that what you are looking at is a corpus. I think the contrast of the shadowy background and the brightness of Christ's cross and body is to make the statement that death has been defeated. That Christ even in His death is eternal life and that the whole world without him is shrouded in shadow. The whiteness of the corpus is Christ's purity, the only sinless God-Man and the contrast to the blackness of our sinful life.
Very few artists paint the entire Trinity. This particular work features Jesus on the cross being held up by his Father. Angelic beings can be seen on either side of the Father an His Son and below is clouds that look to be in shape of people. The Image of Father is very imperial and often what is found in Byzantine and Greek Orthodox artwork. I particularly like this painting because it reminds us that Christ was not alone and that He and the Father are one ().
Impressionism in art has an ability to capture motion and emotion that other more detailed artwork cannot. This Crucifixion plays on shadows and light to create a contrast. Christ is illuminated in manner like Rembrandt's style and he is surrounded by shadow, but interestingly the darkness towards the top of his head is a blue and green of the sea. One could mistake that this crucifixion is taking place at Galilee, not Jerusalem, but perhaps it is an artistic expression. Maybe the sea like foam and green hue is to denote that Christ was often called the Galilean and that he spent much of his time at the Sea of Galilee. A crowd of people are seen about, two in particular are less obscured in their pink and yellow dresses. To the left you can see a white or grey image that looks like walls, this is Jerusalem and Golgatha where Christ is being crucified is outside the city.
I have given my conjectures regarding this crucifixion scene in a previous post. But for those who have not read it, I will indulge you. What is most striking about this crucifixion is that only two people are facing Jesus. The rest of the crowds are busy amongst themselves. The lady at Christ's feet is probably Mary, his Mother, especially because she is clad in pink. However, I see her as Mary, Martha's sister because she is the one who sat at Jesus' feet and became his disciple. In Jewish culture of Jesus' time, to "set at someone's feet" was to be taught as a disciple. The man holding a spear or brand is the scientists or skeptics who are constantly probing and trying to disprove Christ's divinity and Creationism. It could also denote St. Thomas, who was known as Doubting Thomas, but the person has no halo. Then you can see a King or royal to the right who represents great monarchs like Charlemange. The King in addition also is symbolic of Christians who are busy building empires and making money rather than looking to Christ. The scholarly man with no halo, who looks like philosopher represents the learned men of the Early Church, Renaissance Age, and our time who get lost in Plato and Socrates instead of reading Paul and other Saints. Finally, the rest of the crowd with halos are Christians who turn from Christ and are focused on socializing and their own desires. This painting features a blue background which denotes dusk or the fading light, the cherubs, and people from times much later than 30 A.D., even 16th century who are in the painting.
Moving into the three dimensional. This stone art piece creates the illusion that the observer can reach out and touch Christ. The realism is daunting, how the hair falls upon his shoulder and the feeling that he could open his eyes at any moment. This is another corpus and thus a reminder that Christ has just died for the transgressions of all humankind.
Eastern Orthodox depictions of the Crucifixion typically duplicate the Byzantine and Greek Orthodox design and coloring. In this case, this Russian Crucifix features a vibrant blood background. Traditionally, Russian Orthodox Crucifix have three beams on the cross. The first is at the head (not visible) that has the words "King of the Jews" in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. The second beam with were Christ's hands are nailed and the third beam is the stand where Christ's feet were (can be seen at bottom of image). According to tradition, the stand at Jesus' feet is shifted like a balance or weights used for money exchange. This is to allude to that he was pushing up to breath and prolong his Passion. The design is highly unusual, it looks almost like combination of Celtic and Irish design.
As the centuries passed, more paintings were done on Christ on his way to Golgatha. Here Jesus has fallen on the Via del Rosa "The Way of Suffering" in Jerusalem. He holds with one hand the cross and touches the stone floor of His City. His face is obscured leaving the viewer free to see the Lord without being as the early Christians would say, "sacrilegious". Christ's hair can be seen and it is the more traditional dark coloring seen in Greek Orthodoxy and modern depictions. This painting really conveys the suffering part of the Passion. It is the not corpus, so it is active and Jesus is still in process of enduring. For the believer it makes you want to rush to his side and like Symeon help him carry the cross.
Your eyes do not deceive you. This is not a painting. It is photo from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. Photography is considered an art and thus I have decided to conclude this post with one of the most horrific depictions of Christ's Crucifixion. Featured as Jesus is Jim Caviziel in this very realistic depiction of the excruciating and agonizing ordeal Christ underwent. In the Lord's face we see the weight of his torment of body and soul. He seems to be crying out and taking a breath to get through the Via del Rosa. His face is scared, and covered in blood. Mel Gibson's film is very much like watching an art film. Every scene could be frozen to a still and hung in gallery. The Passion of the Christ is closest we believers will get to experiencing Christ's Crucifixion firsthand while we are still on Earth. It is not like the other paintings, it is gruesome and almost unbearable to look at. Unlike Durer or the more conservative images, this makes you want to avert the eyes. There is no gold or blue background. There is no halo or heavenly beings floating to and fro. This is the raw depiction of Christ Death.
Not wanting to end on a morbid or depressing note. Christ did die, but he also rose again from the dead! On the third day he came out of the tomb, having conquered death and hell! He now sits at the Right Hand of the Father and intercedes for all Christians! As the angel said, "He is not here, he has risen" (Matthew 28:6).
Notes:
I claim not rights to any of the artwork contain in this blog post. I reproduced it via Yahoo Images and Google Image Search. I did not paint, draw, or make any of this paintings, pictures, statues, and etc. The artists who did will be accredited as soon as I can find them all.
This painting conveys the early history of Christianity, when it was sacreligious to show Christ's face. What is compelling about this piece is that it looks ancient, but very well could have been painted recently on plastarded wall. The fact that Jesus' face is not distinqusihable means that anyone can look at this image and imagine how they see the Lord. It is not personal and does not denoate a certain ethnic or tribe. His hair is an orange which is intriguing because Jospheus records seeing Christ and saying, "He had light eyes and light hair." The body of the Crucified is pale white which is likely an allusion to "Corpus" meaning the corpse. This indicates He has already died and is descending into hell to preach to the dead before His Ressurection. The use of the read color background could allude to "His Passion" and is fitting to represent his blood which was spilt for all mankind.
Here is a much more orthodox depiction of the Crucifixion. Christ is fully rendered and his face is the traditional Greek/Eastern copy that comes from Byzantine Empire and is said to have come from Shroud of Turin, the viel that covered Jesus' face in the Garden Tomb. Here a halo is most visablly scene around Christ's head, denoting His holiness. Halos came out of Middle Ages to help the uneducated quickly find a patron saint or the Savior. In this painting blood is pouring forth from Christ's side to Mary, His Mother and on the right is likely St. John who leaned against Christ's chest or better known as the Beloved Disciple who wrote the Gospel According to John and Revelation. The background is gold, which is traditional color used in Byzantine or Greek artistry. It gives the sense of heavenliness and transcendence.
This piece is very complex. It has the essential scene of Christ being crucified but also plethoral of things happening around him. This painting is called "Christ and His Fruits." You can see that the cross has branches and that it looks like a tree with leaves at the top containing mysterious beings; perhaps Saints. Below are people and beasts, possibly denoting to the Second Coming and the rider in specific being the raising of the dead on Judgement Day. The Branches and roots attached to the cross are significant because in an epistle from Paul it says, "We are grafted into God's tree. The Jews are roots and we are branches." (Romans 11).
Here is another tempera painting of Christ on the cross. This particular painting deviates from many orthodox pieces in that is depicts crowd at Jesus' crucifixion. It is difficult to make out who everyone is. The lady at the feet of Christ is likely Mary, Martha's Sister who it is said, "sat at Jesus' feet." The woman to the right in pink is probably Madonna or Mary, Mother of Jesus. The choice of pink is quite interesting, since most Madonna are clad in black, deep blue, red, and white. Take notice of the six cherub angels around the cross; this will become a motif in many depictions of the Crucifixion.
Diedtrich Durer is the painter who created this piece. This is a cut version that leaves Christ's legs and feet out. What is very unique about this piece is the black background. This darkness detonates the period of the Passion when the sky grew dark and blackness fell upon Golgotha. It is also an allusion to death, that what you are looking at is a corpus. I think the contrast of the shadowy background and the brightness of Christ's cross and body is to make the statement that death has been defeated. That Christ even in His death is eternal life and that the whole world without him is shrouded in shadow. The whiteness of the corpus is Christ's purity, the only sinless God-Man and the contrast to the blackness of our sinful life.
Very few artists paint the entire Trinity. This particular work features Jesus on the cross being held up by his Father. Angelic beings can be seen on either side of the Father an His Son and below is clouds that look to be in shape of people. The Image of Father is very imperial and often what is found in Byzantine and Greek Orthodox artwork. I particularly like this painting because it reminds us that Christ was not alone and that He and the Father are one ().
Impressionism in art has an ability to capture motion and emotion that other more detailed artwork cannot. This Crucifixion plays on shadows and light to create a contrast. Christ is illuminated in manner like Rembrandt's style and he is surrounded by shadow, but interestingly the darkness towards the top of his head is a blue and green of the sea. One could mistake that this crucifixion is taking place at Galilee, not Jerusalem, but perhaps it is an artistic expression. Maybe the sea like foam and green hue is to denote that Christ was often called the Galilean and that he spent much of his time at the Sea of Galilee. A crowd of people are seen about, two in particular are less obscured in their pink and yellow dresses. To the left you can see a white or grey image that looks like walls, this is Jerusalem and Golgatha where Christ is being crucified is outside the city.
I have given my conjectures regarding this crucifixion scene in a previous post. But for those who have not read it, I will indulge you. What is most striking about this crucifixion is that only two people are facing Jesus. The rest of the crowds are busy amongst themselves. The lady at Christ's feet is probably Mary, his Mother, especially because she is clad in pink. However, I see her as Mary, Martha's sister because she is the one who sat at Jesus' feet and became his disciple. In Jewish culture of Jesus' time, to "set at someone's feet" was to be taught as a disciple. The man holding a spear or brand is the scientists or skeptics who are constantly probing and trying to disprove Christ's divinity and Creationism. It could also denote St. Thomas, who was known as Doubting Thomas, but the person has no halo. Then you can see a King or royal to the right who represents great monarchs like Charlemange. The King in addition also is symbolic of Christians who are busy building empires and making money rather than looking to Christ. The scholarly man with no halo, who looks like philosopher represents the learned men of the Early Church, Renaissance Age, and our time who get lost in Plato and Socrates instead of reading Paul and other Saints. Finally, the rest of the crowd with halos are Christians who turn from Christ and are focused on socializing and their own desires. This painting features a blue background which denotes dusk or the fading light, the cherubs, and people from times much later than 30 A.D., even 16th century who are in the painting.
Moving into the three dimensional. This stone art piece creates the illusion that the observer can reach out and touch Christ. The realism is daunting, how the hair falls upon his shoulder and the feeling that he could open his eyes at any moment. This is another corpus and thus a reminder that Christ has just died for the transgressions of all humankind.
Eastern Orthodox depictions of the Crucifixion typically duplicate the Byzantine and Greek Orthodox design and coloring. In this case, this Russian Crucifix features a vibrant blood background. Traditionally, Russian Orthodox Crucifix have three beams on the cross. The first is at the head (not visible) that has the words "King of the Jews" in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. The second beam with were Christ's hands are nailed and the third beam is the stand where Christ's feet were (can be seen at bottom of image). According to tradition, the stand at Jesus' feet is shifted like a balance or weights used for money exchange. This is to allude to that he was pushing up to breath and prolong his Passion. The design is highly unusual, it looks almost like combination of Celtic and Irish design.
As the centuries passed, more paintings were done on Christ on his way to Golgatha. Here Jesus has fallen on the Via del Rosa "The Way of Suffering" in Jerusalem. He holds with one hand the cross and touches the stone floor of His City. His face is obscured leaving the viewer free to see the Lord without being as the early Christians would say, "sacrilegious". Christ's hair can be seen and it is the more traditional dark coloring seen in Greek Orthodoxy and modern depictions. This painting really conveys the suffering part of the Passion. It is the not corpus, so it is active and Jesus is still in process of enduring. For the believer it makes you want to rush to his side and like Symeon help him carry the cross.
Your eyes do not deceive you. This is not a painting. It is photo from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. Photography is considered an art and thus I have decided to conclude this post with one of the most horrific depictions of Christ's Crucifixion. Featured as Jesus is Jim Caviziel in this very realistic depiction of the excruciating and agonizing ordeal Christ underwent. In the Lord's face we see the weight of his torment of body and soul. He seems to be crying out and taking a breath to get through the Via del Rosa. His face is scared, and covered in blood. Mel Gibson's film is very much like watching an art film. Every scene could be frozen to a still and hung in gallery. The Passion of the Christ is closest we believers will get to experiencing Christ's Crucifixion firsthand while we are still on Earth. It is not like the other paintings, it is gruesome and almost unbearable to look at. Unlike Durer or the more conservative images, this makes you want to avert the eyes. There is no gold or blue background. There is no halo or heavenly beings floating to and fro. This is the raw depiction of Christ Death.
Not wanting to end on a morbid or depressing note. Christ did die, but he also rose again from the dead! On the third day he came out of the tomb, having conquered death and hell! He now sits at the Right Hand of the Father and intercedes for all Christians! As the angel said, "He is not here, he has risen" (Matthew 28:6).
Notes:
I claim not rights to any of the artwork contain in this blog post. I reproduced it via Yahoo Images and Google Image Search. I did not paint, draw, or make any of this paintings, pictures, statues, and etc. The artists who did will be accredited as soon as I can find them all.
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