English: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 174:

Technical notes: The support consists of a single piece of medium weight plain weave fabric that is evenly and densely woven. Tacking edges are present on all four sides. The painting is in its original format as cusping is visible along all four edges which are only partly grounded and painted over. The painting has not been lined and is mounted on an original strainer. The canvas was prepared with a thick brownish ground that covers the structure of the fabric completely. The paint layer consists of opaque colours that totally cover the underlying preparatory layers. The figures in the foreground were painted in reserves. The figures in the background are crudely executed and painted directly over the foreground and background. The paint layer is subtly modulated in the rendering of the figures. The flesh tones are applied gently while the execution of the main figures is somewhat stiff. Small pentimenti can be seen in the contours of the figures. The palette is rich with red, blue, green, yellow pigments as well as a range of sombre earth colours. The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1947.

Provenance: Donated in 1868 by Queen Joséphine.

Bibliography: Göthe 1910, p. 321; Von Wurzbach II 1910, p. 594; NM Cat. 1958, p. 183; NM Cat. 1990, p. 330.

The motif of this painting is the Crucifixion, with Christ on the Cross in the centre of the image. Next to the cross Mary Magdalene is portrayed kneeling with her customary flowing hair and a devout expression. John and the Virgin Mary are depicted standing next to Jesus. In the background to the left a number of soldiers are portrayed, one on horseback wearing 17th century garments rather than Roman armour. In the middle ground to the right are a number of anonymous figures and there are mountainous slopes in the background.

Above this representation of the three figures on their crosses there is a dramatic sky with racing clouds. To the right the heavens are opening slightly and a ray of light illuminates the image. In the centre of the sky three putti are portrayed looking down at Christ on the cross. The figures on the crosses are depicted with their bodies stretched out, conspicuous muscularity and in distorted poses that enhance the expression of their suffering. To this we can add the fabrics that flutter in the baroque manner around the crucified bodies, the racing clouds, the rhetorical gestures of Mary Magdalene, Mary and John, which all further emphasise the drama, movement and emotionality that finds expression in this work.

The painting is signed “C. Schut” and is executed in a profuse palette of red, blue, yellow and green pigments and sombre subdued range of earth colours. Technical examination indicates that the painting has probably not been trimmed but is still in its original format. On stylistic grounds the painting can be attributed to Cornelis Schut II, a painter who worked mainly in Seville. Similarities can be observed, for instance, between the Nationalmusuem’s painting and a work depicting the Martyrdom of St. George in the Koninklijk Museum Voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp in the exaggerated muscularity of the figures, their distorted poses and the perspective, as well as in the powerful movement and drama of the compositions.1 KS

1 Martyrdom of St. George, 1653, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten,

Antwerp, inv. no. 327. [End]