Artwork
Descent from the Cross
Descent from the Cross is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Jacopo Tintoretto. It dates from 1547 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on the main subject of the Descent, emphasizing the human figures engaged in the act of taking down the man identified as Jesus Christ.
Jacopo Tintoretto's 1547 oil painting depicts the Descent from the Cross, a religious subject illustrating the removal of Jesus Christ's body following his crucifixion. The work belongs to the genre of religious art and focuses on the figure of Jesus alongside other men involved in the lowering of the body. As a representation of this specific biblical event, the painting serves as a visual narrative of the Passion, capturing the moment of physical removal from the cross.
The composition centers on the main subject of the Descent, emphasizing the human figures engaged in the act of taking down the man identified as Jesus Christ.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas, measuring 91 cm in height by 122 cm in width. It portrays the moment of Christ being lowered from the cross, rendered with Tintoretto’s characteristic dramatic chiaroscuro and dynamic composition. The brushwork emphasizes the weight and texture of the figures, while the arrangement of the participants creates a rhythmic, almost sculptural grouping that heightens the emotional intensity of the scene.
History & Provenance
The painting was completed by Jacopo Tintoretto in 1547, as recorded in the artist’s chronology and corroborated by the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s cataloging of the work’s inception date.
Its early ownership traces to Bartolomeo della Nave, a Venetian collector, who held the painting before it entered the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria. The Archduke later transferred the work to the holdings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it has remained as part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Jacopo Tintoretto's Descent from the Cross is currently held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The painting is part of the museum's permanent holdings, having been owned historically by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and Bartolomeo della Nave before entering the museum's inventory. The work, created in 1547, measures 91 cm in height and 122 cm in width.
The provided sources do not contain specific details regarding a formal accession number or a chronological list of exhibitions in which the painting has appeared.
Overview
Tintoretto’s Descent from the Cross, executed in oil in 1547, presents the moment when Christ’s body is lowered from the crucifixion cross. The work belongs to the Venetian branch of the Italian Renaissance and is currently displayed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Context
The work illustrates the Counter‑Reformation’s emphasis on vivid, emotionally charged religious imagery. Its dramatic lighting and crowded composition align with the period’s shift toward heightened theatricality in sacred subjects, a hallmark of the Mannerist style that followed the High Renaissance.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jacopo Robusti (late September or early October 1518 – 31 May 1594), best known as Tintoretto ( TIN-tə-RET-oh; Italian:; Venetian: ), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school.
