The Descent from the Cross

This engraving in portrait format fills the picture with its depiction of four men and four women taking Jesus down from the cross with great effort and care. The men are standing on wooden ladders or are bent over the side rails of the cross. To the front left of the picture, Jesus’ crown of thorns lies in a bowl. The men are obviously exerting a great deal of strength to hand the bent body of Jesus to the women standing and kneeling on the ground below. Wrapped in robes, the women look upwards, a look of concentration on their faces. The model for the print, the central part of an altarpiece, was created for the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp. It turned Rubens into the most important painter of religious subjects of his time. Lucas Vorsterman’s engraving enabled the motif to be disseminated, thus contributing significantly to the artist’s fame.