The Crucifixion

Pieter Pannemaker I after Bernard van Orley

National Gallery of Art

This is a tapestry showing a crucifixion scene. At the top of the tapestry are three men hanging from large wooden crosses, one in the center and the other two near the upper right and left corners. The men on the sides have agonized expressions, and their bodies are contorted, limbs bent and curved. The central man is still, his arms stretched outward, hands and feet nailed to the wood. He has a bleeding cut on his side and wears a tanged thorny circlet on his reddish-brown hair. The men all have cloths of various shades of gray and blue tied around their waists. Below, numerous other men and women are gathered, wearing colorful dresses and robes in shades of blue, red, orange, green, and purple. Near the bottom left corner, a woman in a blue dress and a white head covering appears to have fainted, and two other women grab her arms. Another woman stands at the base of the central cross, looking down at the fainted woman. All four of these women have halos, as does a man on the left who looks upward, his folded hands raised. In the bottom right corner, another man kneels down next to several tools, reaching for a loop of rope. The background features a pale green landscape with hills, trees, and gray buildings under a sky swirling with blue and white clouds. A red sun and a pale moon appear in the sky on either side of the central crucified man. The central scene of the tapestry is contained in an intricately decorated red border which features designs of flowers, fruit, and curling vines.