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The Crucifixion

Gerard David Netherlandish
ca. 1495
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 636
In this depiction of Christ’s Crucifixion, the Church Father Saint Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin, appears to visualize the scene based on his reading of scripture. True to the account of the Gospels, David has provided an appropriate sense of time and space. The sky is darkened at the moment of Christ’s death on Golgotha (literally, “the place of the skull”), and the holy city of Jerusalem with its prominent Church of the Holy Sepulcher forms the backdrop.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Crucifixion
  • Artist: Gerard David (Netherlandish, Oudewater ca. 1455–1523 Bruges)
  • Date: ca. 1495
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: Overall 21 x 15 in. (53.3 x 38.1 cm); painted surface 20 5/8 x 14 3/4 in. (52.5 x 37.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1909
  • Object Number: 09.157
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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The Lamentation, Ambrosius Benson Netherlandish, Oil on canvas, transferred from wood
The Lamentation
Ambrosius Benson
ca. 1520–25
Studies of ten (?) heads and two ears (recto); Studies of three figures and a head (verso), Gerard David Netherlandish, Metalpoint on prepared paper; verso: black chalk
Studies of ten (?) heads and two ears (recto); Studies of three figures and a head (verso)
Gerard David
ca. 1498
Virgin and Child, Gerard David Netherlandish, Oil on oak panel, Netherlandish
Virgin and Child
Gerard David
1490–1523
The Annunciation, Gerard David Netherlandish, Tempera on parchment
The Annunciation
Gerard David
ca. 1510
Holy Face, Gerard David Netherlandish, Tempera and gold leaf on parchment that has been trimmed and laid down on thin walnut
Holy Face
Gerard David
ca. 1485–90

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