Christ on the Cross

About this work

This image shows a simple but dramatic scene. A bearded man is nailed to a cross, his head tilted back. Below, two people stand—one with hands clasped, the other holding a red cloth to his chest. A fallen soldier lies on the ground, and a skull sits nearby. The colors are flat: red for blood and robes, light blue for one figure’s cloak, and gray for the rest. The artist used a woodcut technique, carving the design into wood before coloring it by hand. This made the image easy to copy and spread widely. Next, look up woodcut to see how this printing method worked.