Deposition from the Cross
Medium
Lithograph in black on ivory chine
Dimensions
Image: 32 × 45.2 cm (12 5/8 × 17 13/16 in.); Sheet: 49.4 × 65.1 cm (19 1/2 × 25 11/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
44165
Art Historical Context
Henri Fantin-Latour's *Deposition from the Cross (1893) captures a poignant moment from the Passion of Christ, depicting the careful lowering of Jesus's body from the cross—a theme revered in Western art since the Middle Ages. The French artist (1836–1904), renowned for his meticulous realism in portraits and still lifes, turned to lithography late in his career to evoke the grandeur of old masters like Rubens and Rembrandt. This print reflects his deep admiration for 17th-century Baroque drama, blending solemnity with emotional intensity. Printed in black ink on delicate ivory chine—thin Chi...
About the Artist
Henri Fantin-Latour · 1836–1904
Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-Latour was born on January 14, 1836, in Grenoble, France, to portrait painter Théodore Fantin-Latour, who gave him his earliest drawing lessons. The family relocated to Paris in 1841, where in 1850, at age 14, he enrolled in the École de Dessin, studying under Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran, whose innovative memory-based method of drawing from observation profoundly ...