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Descent from the Cross

Date:
ca. 1475–1500
Geography:
Made in Brussels, The Netherlands
Culture:
South Netherlandish
Medium:
Limewood with paint
Dimensions:
Overall: 22 5/8 x 13 3/16 x 6 1/4 in. (57.5 x 33.5 x 15.9 cm)
with base: 23 5/8 x 13 3/4 x 6 1/4 in. (60 x 35 x 15.9 cm)
Classification:
Sculpture-Wood
Credit Line:
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1916
Accession Number:
16.32.217
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 305
In the fifteenth century the theme of the Deposition of Christ from the Cross, part of the Easter narrative, was often represented in liturgical dramas on Good Friday. Small reliefs like this one were usually part of a large altarpiece. The original paint is exceptionally well preserved.
Georges Hoentschel (French); J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (until 1917)
Wixom, William D. "Late Medieval Sculpture in the Metropolitan: 1400 to 1530." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 64, no. 4 (Spring 2007). p. 40.

Woods, Kim. Imported Images: Netherlandish Late Gothic Sculpture in England, c.1400-c.1550. Donington: Shaun Tyas, 2007. p. 512.

Timelines
Low Countries, 1400-1600 A.D.

"Late Medieval Sculpture in the Metropolitan, 1400–1530": The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 64, no. 4 (Spring, 2007)

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