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The Crucifixion

Designer Design attributed to Bernard van Orley Netherlandish
Workshop director Pieter van Aelst the Younger Flemish
Workshop director Pieter de Pannemaker Netherlandish
design ca. 1515, woven ca. 1525
Not on view
With the crucified Christ anchoring the composition, a host of angels fills a turbulent sky, holding the symbols of the Passion. Below, John the Evangelist strides in from the left; at the right, Mary Magdalene, richly-dressed fitting to the popular perception of her as a reformed courtesan, elegantly crumples forward with hand-wringing grief. Also weeping, the Virgin Mary gazes up at her son, and a third holy woman, possibly Mary of Cleophas, embraces the cross. The painterly detail of the tapestry’s design extends to the minutely observed background landscape, in which the bracketing episodes of the carrying of the cross and the entombment can be glimpsed flanking the central scene. To this the virtuoso tapestry-weavers, clearly at the pinnacle of their profession, have brought a material sumptuousness which would have glimmered in the candlelight and which serve to rank this tapestry amongst the richest survivals of the period.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Crucifixion
  • Designer: Design attributed to Bernard van Orley (Netherlandish, Brussels ca. 1492–1541/42 Brussels)
  • Workshop director: Pieter van Aelst the Younger (Flemish, active 1509–55) , probably; or
  • Workshop director: Pieter de Pannemaker (Netherlandish, active 1517–1535) , possibly
  • Date: design ca. 1515, woven ca. 1525
  • Culture: Netherlandish, Brussels
  • Medium: Wool, silk, silver thread, silver-gilt thread (20-21 warps per inch, 7-8 per cm.)
  • Dimensions: Overall (confirmed 11/13/07): 98 1/2 x 100 3/4 in. (250.2 x 255.9 cm);
    Overall (unknown date): 99 x 98 in. (251.5 x 248.9 cm);
    Slat: 100” x 3 ½” x 1” with Velcro/webbing, security straps
  • Classification: Textiles-Tapestries
  • Credit Line: Bequest of George Blumenthal, 1941
  • Object Number: 41.190.136
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

More Artwork
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The Final Assault on the Boar, or December from a set of the Hunts of Maximilian, Bernard van Orley , probably Netherlandish, Wool, silk (19-21 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.), French, Paris
The Final Assault on the Boar, or December from a set of the Hunts of Maximilian
Multiple artists/makers
designed ca. 1531, woven 1692–93
Adoration of the Kings, Bernard van Orley or a member of his workshop Netherlandish, Wool, silk, silver, silver-gilt thread (20 warps per inch, 8 per cm.), Netherlandish, Brussels
Adoration of the Kings
Multiple artists/makers
1525–1535
August from a set of Medallion Months, Bernard van Orley Netherlandish, Wool, silk (20 warps per inch, 8 per cm.), Netherlandish, Brussels
August from a set of Medallion Months
Bernard van Orley
ca. 1525–28
The Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or Spring, Bernard van Orley Netherlandish, Wool, silk (16-20 warps per inch, 6-8 per cm.), Netherlandish, Brussels
The Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or Spring
Bernard van Orley
ca. 1515
The Twelve Ages of a Man: The Second Three Ages (18-36), or Autumn, Bernard van Orley Netherlandish, Wool, silk (16-20 warps per inch, 6-8 per cm.), Netherlandish, Brussels
The Twelve Ages of a Man: The Second Three Ages (18-36), or Autumn
Bernard van Orley
ca. 1515

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