The Crucifixion

ca. 1530

Maerten van Heemskerck 1498-1574

On View

European: Medieval and Renaissance, Level 2, West Wing

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About the Artwork

The Crucifixion, with its background of softly sketched ruins and “curious little windswept figures,” is typical of Heemskerck’s early Haarlem style, circa 1527–32. The viewer’s attention is first drawn to the prominent figures of Saint John the Evangelist and the Virgin Mary, rather than the figures of Christ and Mary Magdalen. This skewed placement of Christ on the cross, seen without the thieves, transforms the painting into a devotional rather than a narrative depiction of the Crucifixion. With his portrayal of an emotional and grief-stricken Virgin, Heemskerck tells the faithful that through the Virgin they can experience both the suffering and the passion of Christ.

Title The Crucifixion

Artwork Date ca. 1530

Artist Maerten van Heemskerck

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. ----------

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on oak panel

Dimensions Unframed: 15 1/2 × 14 inches (39.4 × 35.6 cm) Framed: 17 1/4 × 15 5/8 × 1 9/16 inches (43.8 × 39.7 × 4 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Julius H. Haass Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 34.15

Markings

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Provenance

1933, Mr. Benedict (Hôtel des Saints Pères, Paris, France);
acquired by (Paul Cassirer & Co., Amsterdam, Netherlands);
1934-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Valentiner, W.R. "A Painting by Jan van Scorel and a Drawing by David Joris." Bulletin of the DIA 14, no. 1 (October 1934): pp. 2-7 cover (ill.).

Friedländer, M.J. Altniederländische Malerei, vol. 12. Leiden, 1935, p. 139, pl. 66.

Pantheon 15, no. 4 (April 1935): p. 150, (ill.) p. 142. [as Jan van Scorel.]

Richardson, E.P. Flemish Painting of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Detroit, 1936, (fig. 12). [as Jan van Scorel.]

Loan Exhibition of Early Dutch Paintings 1460-1540. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Art. Detroit, 1944, p. 14, cat. 22. [as Jan van Scorel.]

Richardson, E.P., ed. Detroit Institute of Arts Catalogue of Paintings. Detroit, 1944, p. 120, no. 727. [as Jan van Scorel.]

Jan van Scorel and his Circle. Exh. cat., Centraal Museum. Utrecht, 1955, p. 38, cat. 17, pl. 7.

Wilenski, R.H. Flemish Painters 1430-1830. New York, 1960, pp. 103, 108, 114, 140, 165, 236, pl. 285. [as "Detroit Crucifixion Painter."]

Friedländer, M.J. Early Netherlandish Painting, ed. H. Pauwels and G. Lemmens. Leiden and Brussels, vol. 12, 1967, pp. 75, 123, no. 322, pl. 175. [as Jan van Scorel.]

Silver, L. "Review of Maerten van Heemskerck, die Gemälde, by Rainald Grosshaus." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 47, no. 2 (1984): pp. 269-280 [as M. van Heemskerck.]

Harrison, J.C. "The Detroit 'Christ on Calvary' and the Cologne 'Lamentation of Christ': Two Early Haarlem Paintings by Maerten van Heemskerck." Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek (1986): pp. 175-194 (fig. 1).

Wissman, F.W. European Vistas: Cultural Landscapes Detroit, 2000, pp. 74-75 (ill.).

Dacos, N. "Lambert Sustris e Jan van Scorel." Arte Veneta, no. 56 (2002): pp. 38-51 (fig. 10) and detail p. 41 (fig. 5). [as Lambert Sustris.]

Veldman, Ilja. "Adaptation, emulation and innovation: Scorel, Gossaert and other artists as a source of inspiration for the young Heemskerck," Oud Holland -- Jounral for Art of the Low Countries, no 132. pp 171-208, p. 178.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Maerten van Heemskerck, The Crucifixion, ca. 1530, oil on oak panel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Julius H. Haass Fund, 34.15.