The Descent from the Cross
c. 1485
Medium
Tempera on panel
Dimensions
26 × 20.4 cm (10 3/16 × 8 1/16 in.); Framed: 30.5 × 25.4 cm (12 × 10 in.)
Classification
tempera
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
16137
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This panel and it’s companion, The Flight into Egypt, were originally part of a series of scenes from the life of Jesus that constitute Bernardino Butinone’s best-known works. The first painting depicts the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt as part of Mary and Joseph’s attempt to protect the newborn Jesus from being murdered by King Herod, who viewed the divine child as a threat to his power. The second painting shows Jesus’s body being lowered from the cross into the arms of his grieving mother and ...