Descent from the Cross (Rubens)

Copy of the Descent from the Cross
	Francesco Marcoleoni , 1611
	Oil on canvas (cropped)
	127 × 143 cm
	Private collection

Pietà Bandini
	Michelangelo , 1547-1564
	marble
	Florence

Descent from the Cross
	Peter Paul Rubens , 1600–1602
	Oil on canvas
	203 × 257 cm
	Siegerland Museum Siegen , Upper Castle

The Descent from the Cross is an oil painting by the painter Peter Paul Rubens from 1600 to 1602 and his first major commission, created for the private chapel of Eleonora de 'Medici Gonzaga (1567–1611), Duchess of Mantua .

The discoverer of the painting is the art historian Justus Müller Hofstede , who specialized in the early Rubens .

description

The large-format altar painting revolutionizes the usual depiction of Jesus Christ of the Cinquecento being deposed from the cross and deepens the sacred idea of the Eucharist : The kneeling woman in the foreground of the picture as the symbolic embodiment of the Duchess receives the body of Christ like a lover at the Lord's Supper (see John 6: 54-59 EU ).

Stylistically, the picture is comparable to another early work by Rubens, the “Raising the Cross” for the Helena Chapel of the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme , which was created around the same time and provides the same perspective on the grieving group of women.

In addition, the picture is the first baroque painting by an artist north of the Alps.

history

Rubens knew Michelangelo's Descent from the Cross ( Pieta Bandini ) from an engraving by Cherubino Alberti and saw the Pieta there in person during his stay in Rome. Commissioned by Duchess Eleonora Gonzaga to depict the Descent from the Cross, Rubens entered into a deliberate competition ( Paragone ) with the sculptor and created an expanded composition. Rubens adapted the commissioned work, intended for the oratory of the Duchess Eleonora de 'Medici in Mantua, as an altarpiece exactly to the dimensions of the altar wall. Archival records show that Rubens was the painter of the picture, as it was copied by court painter Francesco Marcoleoni for the church of Santa Maria Assunta in Susano near Castel d'Ario in 1611 after the Duchess' death on behalf of Paolo Emilio Gonzaga .

The archival text describes the copy by Marcoleoni and the original by Rubens as follows: [...] Un Christo che togliono di croce, che coppiò knife Francesco Marco Leone che viene da Pietro Paolo Fiamingo, et è originale nella capella di Santa Croce di sopra in Corte [...].

After early sketches ( Hermitage, St. Petersburg ), Rubens also dealt with the subject of the Descent from the Cross in later creative periods: including the famous Antwerp triptych for the "Kolveniers", the Descent from the Cross in Lille , St. Petersburg and Arras (1610).

St. Petersburg, Hermitage (between 1600 and 1610)
St. Petersburg, Hermitage (between 1604 and 1614)
Antwerp , Cathedral of Our Lady (1612)
Valenciennes , Museum (1614-1615)
Saint-Omer , Notre-Dame Cathedral (1616)
Lille, Museum (1617-1618)
St. Petersburg, Hermitage (1618)

literature

Rubens, Eleonora de 'Medici Gonzaga e l'oratorio sopra Santa Croce. Pittura devota a corte. Exhibition catalog Mantua, Palazzo Ducale. Electa, Milan 2005, ISBN 88-370-4007-5 .
Justus Müller Hofstede : Rubens' newly discovered Descent from the Cross for Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Mantua. In: Gerhard Finckh, Ilka Hartje (ed.): Peter Paul Rubens. Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal 2012, ISBN 978-3-89202-085-1 , pp. 50–65.
Jan Braet (2005): Van het donker naar de klaarte . Knack Magazine, 35 (36), pp. 28-31.
Jan Braet (2005): Rubens was een herkauwer . Knack Magazine, 35 (37), pp. 116-121.
Jürgen Hohmeyer (2006): The man with the two right hands . Weltkunst - Die Zeitschrift für Kunst und Antiquitäten, Munich, 76 (8): pp. 78–82.
Marijnis, RH, & Voorde, G. (2009): The masters 'and the forgers' secrets: x-ray authentication of paintings from early Netherlandish till modern. Mercator Fund. Pp. 340-346.
Jan Braet (2009): We moeten van onze pretentie af . Knack Magazine, December 2, 2009, pp. 74-78.
Logan, A. (2007): Rubens's drawings after Julius Held. Oud Holland, 120 (3/4), 160-180.
Jaffé, D., McGrath, E., Bradley, A., & Ede, MAM (2005): Rubens: a master in the making. National Gallery, pp. 128-134.

Individual evidence

↑ Westfalenpost: Premiere: Siegerland Museum exhibits Rubens “Descent from the Cross”. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
↑ New Rubens discovered? . News.ch September 8, 2005; Twijfels over nieuwe ontdekt Rubens . In: Nieuwsblad September 8, 2005: Rubens' early work discovered . In: Der Standard September 13, 2005.
^ Justus Müller Hofstede: Eucharist under the cross . Ed .: FAZ. No. 220 , September 21, 2005, p. N3 .
↑ Peter Paul Rubens: The erection of the cross (1601)
↑ Gigli Collection Florence Italy. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
↑ Erich Hubala: Rubens and Michelangelo. A note on Christ of the Descent from the Cross in Antwerp from 1611-1612. Nordelbingen, XLI 1977, p. 64-76 .
^ Justus Müller-Hofstede: Rubens newly discovered Descent from the Cross . Ed .: Reprint from the catalog of the exhibition "Peter Paul Rubens" Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal 2012-2013. S. 13 ff .
↑ [1]

[1] Westfalenpost: Premiere: Siegerland Museum exhibits Rubens “Descent from the Cross”. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .

[2] New Rubens discovered? . News.ch September 8, 2005; Twijfels over nieuwe ontdekt Rubens . In: Nieuwsblad September 8, 2005: Rubens' early work discovered . In: Der Standard September 13, 2005.

[3] Justus Müller Hofstede: Eucharist under the cross . Ed .: FAZ. No. 220 , September 21, 2005, p. N3 .

[4] Peter Paul Rubens: The erection of the cross (1601)

[5] Gigli Collection Florence Italy. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .

[6] Erich Hubala: Rubens and Michelangelo. A note on Christ of the Descent from the Cross in Antwerp from 1611-1612. Nordelbingen, XLI 1977, p. 64-76 .

[7] Justus Müller-Hofstede: Rubens newly discovered Descent from the Cross . Ed .: Reprint from the catalog of the exhibition "Peter Paul Rubens" Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal 2012-2013. S. 13 ff .

[8] [1]