He hangs on the cross, his head bowed.
Bible in art · John
The Crucifixion
German painter · late 12th century
National Gallery of Art, Washington
A German miniature of the late 12th century from a book of the Mass; the Latin lines above it are the end of the preface, sung just before the prayer that this picture introduced. The painter used few colours: red, blue, ochre and green.
Jesus hangs on a green cross, his head bowed. Mary stands at the left with her hands folded, John at the right holding a book. Above the cross are a small sun and moon.
From the text
- His mother and the disciple whom He loved stand nearby (John 19:26)
- Near the cross stood His mother (John 19:25)
The artist’s own
- The cross painted green
- Sun and moon above the cross, a custom of painters of the time
Details
Jesus
Mary
She stands in blue with hands folded.
John
He holds a book.
The text
Latin words of the Mass above.
German 12th Century. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Rosenwald Collection, 1948.11.13) · Miniature on vellum · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)