The Crucifixion

Wood, polychrome, fresco
Altarpiece of the Purification, Chapel of the High Constable
Burgos Cathedral, Spain

This grouping presents an interesting essay in mixed media and even mixed styles. The figures of Mary and John are at the summit of the retablo. The three crucified figures are above and behind them in a different style, with the thieves' bodies contorted as if in imitation of late German crucifixion paintings (example).

Finally, the scene is given a frescoed cityscape for a background, comparable to that of a Crucifixion group at the nearby Huelgas monastery. Also remarkable is the grim incongruity of the retablo's ornate peaked summit and fleshy angels with the simple gray skull, itself a reference not only to death but to the literal translation of the name Golgotha of the hill where the crucifixion took place.

Read more about images of the Crucifixion.

• Home Page
• Iconography of the Crucifixion
• This Picture

Photographed at the chapel by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.