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