ZURBARÁN’S CRUCIFIXION, 1627
March 27th 2021
This brightly lit figure of the dead Christ on the cross emerges out of darkness. When people saw this painting hanging in the dimly lit sacristy of the Dominican Priory of San Pablo el Real in Seville, they though
CARAVAGGIO’S DEPOSITION
March 20th 2021
Many of Caravaggio’s contemporaries considered this altarpiece to be his best work. It was painted for the Chapel of the Pietà in the Oratorians’ Chiesa Nuova in Rome. In it, Caravaggio seems to have combined two scenes. It is
GIOVANNI BELLINI’S LAMENTATION OF CHRIST
March 13th 2021
This painting is also known as “The Anointing of Christ” because it shows the dead body of Christ being anointed before burial. Joseph of Arimathea supports the body. Nicodemus holds a container of ointment while Mary Magdalene anoints the wound
EL GRECO’S PURIFICATION OF THE TEMPLE, LONDON
March 6th 2021
“The Purification of the Temple”, El Greco, 1600, National Gallery, London. This scene was rarely painted in its own right before the Reformation. It was shown as one of a series of scenes from the Passion. After the Council of
