The Small Crucifixion
c. 1511–1520 · Oil on panel · National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Matthias Grünewald (c. 1480–1528)
- Year
- c. 1511–1520
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Original size
- 61.3 × 46 cm
- Collection
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Movement
- Northern Renaissance
Christ hangs on a rough cross under a dark night sky, his body twisted and covered with wounds, his fingers contorted and his loincloth in tatters, while the Virgin, wrapped in a dark mantle, and John the Evangelist, in pink and red, stand on either side and Mary Magdalene kneels in prayer at the foot of the cross. Matthias Grünewald, one of the most intense painters of the German Renaissance, painted the small panel in about 1511–1520, the period of his Isenheim Altarpiece, which shows the same unsparing vision of Christ's suffering. Only about ten of his paintings survive. In 1675 the writer Joachim von Sandrart recorded a small crucifix with the Virgin and Saint John by Grünewald owned by Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria, generally identified with this picture. It later passed into a private collection in western Germany, was in Essen by 1922, belonged to Franz Koenigs in Haarlem from 1927, and was sold by his heirs to the Kress Foundation in 1953. It was given to the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 1961.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Christ on a dark cross with three mourners in deep red, rose and black against a night sky, intense and solemn, for a study, hallway or quiet corner at 18×24 in black. A charcoal, deep red or warm stone wall; it pairs with The Yellow Christ (Le Christ jaune).
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Northern Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (c. 1511–1520)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 18×24. Prints at 12×16, 18×24, 24×32 in — 12×16 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 18×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×32 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Small Crucifixion in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Small Crucifixion painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
