The Raising of the Cross

Peter Paul Rubens. The Elevation of the Cross. 1610-1611. Oil on canvas. 462 × 341 cm. Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp.

The Elevation of the Cross is a triptych painting by Rubens.

Rubens painted The Elevation of the Cross after returning to Flanders from Italy. There is a clear influence of Italian Renaissance and Baroque artists — Caravaggio, Tintoretto, Michelangelo. The central panel illustrates a tension between the multitude of finely muscled men attempting to lift the cross and the seemingly unbearable weight of Christ on the cross.

The Raising of the Cross, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp

Michelangelo's foreshortening is evident in the contortions of the struggling, strapping men. Christ cuts across the central panel in a diagonal, stylistically akin to Caravaggio's Entombment where both descent and ascent are in play at a key moment. Motion, space and time are illustrated along with the struggle to upright the Christ. Rubens uses dynamic color and chiaroscuro boldly, a style that will become more subtle with time.

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Peter Paul Rubens

Infante Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633) · The Deposition (1602) · Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma (1603) · Virgin and Child (c. 1604) · Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria (1606) · Samson and Delilah (1609-1610) · Honeysuckle Bower (1609-1610) · Raising of the Cross (1610-1611) · Massacre of the Innocents (c. 1611) · Prometheus Bound (1611-1612) · Descent from the Cross (1611–1614) · St Sebastian (c. 1614) · Hippopotamus Hunt (1615-1616) · Saint George and the Dragon (c. 1620) · Marie de' Medici cycle (1621–1630) · Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1625-1626) · The Fall of Man (1628–1629) · The Feast of Venus (c. 1635) · The Three Graces (1636-1638) · Judgment of Paris (c. 1638-1639) ·

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