Artwork
Crucifixion of Christ
Crucifixion of Christ is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Annibale Carracci. It dates from 1598 and is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work belongs to the religious genre and reflects Carracci's mastery of oil painting in conveying spiritual narratives.
The Crucifixion of Christ depicts the biblical moment of Jesus' crucifixion, showing him nailed to the cross with Mary standing at its foot and supported by holy women, while John the Baptist appears to the left. This iconography emphasizes themes of sacrifice and redemption central to Christian religious art.
The work belongs to the religious genre and reflects Carracci's mastery of oil painting in conveying spiritual narratives.
Technique & Style
The Crucifixion of Christ is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for late sixteenth-century Italian religious painting. The work is a modest-scale panel-format canvas, measuring approximately 33.8 cm in height by 23.4 cm in width, an intimate format suited to devotional viewing.
Stylistically, the composition centers on the crucified Christ, with the Virgin Mary fainting at the foot of the cross and supported by holy women, while Saint John the Baptist appears to the left. The arrangement reflects Annibale Carracci's classicizing approach to sacred narrative, balancing the principal figures around the vertical axis of the cross. The painting's visual orientation is preserved through Cornelis Bloemaert II's later engraved reproduction, which, owing to the printing process, appears as a mirror image of the original.
History & Provenance
The painting was created by Annibale Carracci in 1594, as indicated by the internal catalog entry and the Wikidata inception date.
By the early seventeenth century, the work was in Rome, where Cornelis Bloemaert II produced a reversed engraving after it during his Roman sojourn after 1633.
The Crucifixion of Christ entered the collection of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, where it remains in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
The painting is held by the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, which is part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. While the work is dated to 1594, the specific inventory or accession number is not provided in the available sources. The artwork's history includes a reproductive engraving created by Cornelis Bloemaert II after 1633 during his time in Rome. This print represents a mirrored version of the original oil painting on canvas.
Legacy
The painting is held in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, where it remains available for study and public viewing. In the mid‑17th century Cornelis Bloemaert II created an engraved reproduction after 1633; this print, a mirror‑image of the original canvas, circulated the composition more widely and helped extend Carracci’s influence beyond the single work.
Overview
Annibale Carracci's 'Crucifixion of Christ' is an oil painting created in 1598. It is now part of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin collection.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Annibale Carracci ( kə-RAH-chee, UK also kə-RATCH-ee, Italian:; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome.
