Jesus' Crucifixion In Art

The symbol of Christ on the cross has infiltrated culture in innumerable ways, and depictions have become ubiquitous. There is no other subject matter that better reflects the historical progression of artistic expression. This is fitting, as there is no other event that has had comparable effect on all aspects of human history.

"The Yellow Christ"
Artist: Paul Gauguin
1889
Painting

With Le Christ Jaune (The Yellow Christ) Gauguin used a representation of a 17th-century painted crucifix that hung in the Trémalo Chapel. The subject of the painting was actually the peasants kneeling before the crucifix. Gauguin wanted to portray the isolation and piety of the local peasantry in Pont-Aven France where he was visiting.

This painting is housed at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY

"Christ of St John of the Cross"
Artist: Salvador Dali
1951
Painting

The notorious Spanish Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) created Christ of St John of the Cross in 1951. In Dalí's unusual depiction, Christ floats over a darkened sky, reflected by a shore beneath in which a fishing boat is moored. The birds-eye perspective and composition were influenced by a drawing by Spanish mystic John of the Cross (1542–1591) who sketched Christ after claiming he saw the crucifixion in a mystical vision.

Similarly, Dalí claimed he was inspired to paint this unusual depiction of Christ after experiencing a 'cosmic dream'. By the 1940s, Dalí began to return to his religious roots, though previously he had turned away from Catholicism.

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