De Kathedraal Antwerpen

‘The descent from the cross’
Peter Paul Rubens
Although painted a few years after The raising of the cross, Rubens to some extent made use of another style for The descent from the cross (1611-1614). The sense of clarity and serenity are greater here. The light shines more softly. The positions and movements of the figures are more controlled. Overall, the whole painting looks more classical. Nevertheless, because of its stylish grandeur, monumental character (central panel: 421 x 311 cm, side panels: 421 x 153 cm), diagonal composition, and sense of the dramatic and decorative, this triptych is a paragon of baroque art.
On the central panel eight people carefully take the lifeless Christ from the cross. Starting from the top and moving down, there are two anonymous helpers, then Joseph of Arimathea on the left and Nicodemus on the right; below are Mary, who stretches out her arms toward her son, John, in his fiery red garments, and at the very bottom Mary Cleophas and Mary Magdalen. Against the flat, dark background the figures light up three-dimensionally, as it were. Together they bear the body of Christ, which they have taken up in a white shroud - a reference to the Corpus Christi and the Eucharist.

The raising of the cross
Peter Paul Rubens
Rubens (1577-1640) painted The raising of the cross in 1609-1610, when he himself was about the age of the martyred Christ. Until 1794, this colossal work (central panel: 460 x 340 cm, side panels: 460 x 150 cm) was part of the high altar of the St Walburgis Church, which was later demolished. Hauled away by the French, the triptych was returned to Antwerp in 1815, where since 1816 it has had a central place in the Our Lady’s Cathedral. In The raising of the cross, Rubens introduced baroque art in the Netherlands after an eight year stay in Italy. The whirling strength, the impelling dynamism that characterize this masterpiece full of drama and pathos are striking. Nevertheless the whole presentation appears coherent and balanced.
The diagonal composition of the central panel, with nine assistant executioners who act in unison, exerting their intensely earthly, carnal strength to raise the cross with the pale Christ, possesses a gruesome beauty. Here, Rubens has set down the raising of the cross, which until that time had scarcely appeared in the visual arts, in an unprecedentedly expressive, almost tempestuous manner. This relates to Roman-Catholic self-confidence, which was regained during the Counterreformation.