Medieval gold-ground painting of Christ's body being taken down from the cross, with haloed mourners in red and dark robes around the ladder.

The Descent from the Cross

A gold-ground panel painting shows the body of Christ being lowered from the cross by a bearded man on a ladder, while a mourning woman in red supports him and other haloed figures grieve around. A kneeling man in the lower right pulls at a nail with pincers, and the cross beam and architectural details frame the scene.

Artist: anoniem
Date: 1290
Medium
Source: Rijksmuseum
Size: 3896 × 4000 px

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Public domain · Rijksmuseum marks it Public Domain Mark; made by 1290.
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: Public Domain Mark (Rijksmuseum, image license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Stories of the Old Testament The Life of Christ 13th century medieval painting 1290s 1290 religious art gold leaf christ mourners ladder tempera on panel haloed figure descent from the cross deposition byzantine style

The Descent from the Cross

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