The Descent from the Cross

This post is a bit different from my norm... Aside from my family, this is a glimpse into my passion. Three years ago, I walked away from my final year in nursing school, knowing that it wasn't what I was called to be doing. I left the security of knowing I would always have the ability to be employed and secure. There are few times in my life where I've heard directly from God, and this was one of them.

I've always had a knack for Art, and was always encouraged that it could just be my "hobby". While that is true, I felt called to pursue an education in Drawing & Design. With each new class I take, I feel more at home. My mind feels free here and my hands learn new skills each day. Art history and criticism has surprisingly caught my interest maybe because of it's underlying messages- perhaps because I'm so introverted myself, I enjoy searching for things that aren't immediately translated. 

Below is a short introductory paper for a later ten page thesis I will write for my Baroque History class this Summer. I hope this makes you stop and read Art like you would a book... there is always something more the artist may be trying to translate.

Peter Paul Rubens was a prominent Baroque painter during the seventeenth century. Rubens was raised in Antwerp where he received a humanistic education studying language, literature, and the arts. He studied under two leading painters, Adam van Noort and Otto van Veen. Rubens began his painting career by essentially copying other artist’s works such as Caravaggio and Michelangelo. He spent time traveling and studying in Italy where he received a series of his first commissions. Rubens returned to Antwerp when his mother fell sick. Here, he planted his studio, new home, and began building his family. Albert and Isabella, governors of Antwerp, appointed him court painter. It was through this position that he created the altarpiece the Descent from the Cross. 

The Descent from the Cross is the central panel of a triptych (three hinged panels). This triptych was created as an altarpiece for The Cathedral of our Lady in Antwerp. This central panel, the Descent from the Cross, is an image of a dead Christ being removed and lowered from the cross from which he was crucified. The left panel of the triptych is an image of a pregnant Mary. Here she is shown meeting with her cousin Elizabeth to share the news of the coming of Christ. The right panel shows the infant Christ being carried in the Temple by Saint Christopher (literal meaning, bearer of Christ). I read two articles that discuss this specific work by Rubens. In the first article, the Descent from the Cross in Works by Peter Paul Rubens and His Studio, by Jen Blalostocki, she discusses the commissions’ timeline, composition, underlying meaning, and inspiration.  The second article, Passeri, Rubens, and Reynolds- A Neglected Source for the Antwerp Descent from the Cross, written by Berthold Dress, discusses the paintings’ originality and how Rubens illustration differs from the traditional composition of Christ’s descent from the cross.  

In the second article I read, Kress addresses an important aspect that I want to research further. Although this exact scene has been previously painted by other artists, this work by Ruben is distinctively different from the rest. The most unique aspect of this composition is that Christ is placed in front of white shroud. Since this scene had been illustrated since the fifteenth century, a traditional or normal composition had been established. Ruben followed the general composition: Christs body being lowered diagonally, one arm pulled upward and the other hanging down, two men on ladders above the horizontal beam, and another person supporting Christ’s body from the ground. Kress goes on to explain that it makes “no narrative sense” for a shroud to be placed behind Christ at this moment. Each corner of the fabric is held up by a helper; three corners are held by hands, and the upper right is held up by teeth. This helper is bracing himself onto the cross with his left hand and straining to gradually lower Christ using his right hand, which leaves him to grasp onto the shroud with his teeth. Instead of simply allowing the shroud to fall or drape over the horizontal beam of the cross, he ensures it’s elevation by using his mouth… but why? This struggle to lower Christ along side of the seemingly equally important shroud leads me to believe that this white fabric is more important than first glance may lead me to believe. 

Kress goes on to explain that it makes no sense to use this type of fabric for the descent of a battered and bloody Christ. This is a fabric generally used for a proper burial. A shroud is a functional piece, meant to cover, conceal from view, and wrap a dead person for burial. This cloth would not be part of his narrative until he was properly cleaned and visually acceptable. This visual of this extremely significant fragment of fabric changes the “normal” and “accepted” composition of Christ being lowered from the cross. This shroud is not covering or concealing what should be unseen, instead it is revealing it. The pure whiteness frames his body while illuminating his blood red scars even brighter. Christ did not need to be “cleaned” to be received by this shroud; Rubens painting reveals that he was made clean and perfect through the wounds themselves. Bloody, injured, mangled, and tortured, released directly from the nails hammered through his body into the oak cross: Christ’s blood does not dirty this sacred clean garment, it renews it and brings it to life. Rubens deliberate use of framing Christ’s body with this shroud delivers a sense of foreshadowing for what’s to come: the resurrection. He specifically paints blood onto the white fabric and places is into the helpers mouth instead of his hand to further illustrate that this sacred and holy moment is not only one that we can touch, but taste perhaps. Directly below the helper with the shroud in his mouth is a vessel of wine and loaf of bread. Is this some how an allegory for how tangible this love can be? Through the bread we are reminded of the brokenness of his body. Through the wine we are forgiven and made whole again through the blood that was spilled for sinners.  This traditionally pure and pristine fabric used for the burial and transition to heaven has been transformed by Ruben and Christ himself. 

After observing sketch after sketch that Ruben practiced before finally deciding on this composition, I am lead to believe that the implementation of this white linen made this depiction of the Descent from the Cross more memorable than any other. Ruben used this seemingly simple shroud to communicate and foreshadow the hope of what is to come through the resurrection of Christ himself.