By: Linda, Ingrid and Nicole C.

Descent from the Cross Descent from the Cross

• His Life

• Characteristics of his Art

• Religious Story

• Analysis of the Painting

• Symbolism

• Rogier van der Weyden was born in 1399 and died 1464 • He was the third greatest artist of early Flemish paintings• He became the official painter for the city of Brussels in

1435• His style focused especially on human emotion.• He worked on large surfaces • He had a great influence on many artists • He never signed his work

• The artwork is usually religious biblical art or portraits.

• The use of line and faint shading in the portraits.

• The artist uses drama and emotion to emphasize the facial expressions

The bodies of the figures are twisted and blended to highlight strong emotions.

• The artist demonstrates

the lively use of colour • The figures in the

paintings are organized

carefully and placed

together perfectly • The art work shows clear and balanced

composition.

• Jesus is taken down from the cross by John the Evangelist and Nicodemus.

• hardly painted with any wounds or injuries from crucifixion

Rogier van der Weyden, Descent from the Cross, ca 1435. Oil on panel

• Left: Mary Magdalene in the

purple dress & red sleeves

• Virgin Mary: woman in blue

• "S" curve: Virgin Mary’s grief and sorrow causes her to faint and her body is placed in the similar as her son.

Rogier van der Weyden, Descent from the Cross, ca 1435. Oil on panel

• Skull: is a symbol of death

and mortality. It also reminds

us that we are looking at Golgotha,

the Mount of Skulls, where Jesus

was crucified. The skull also

represents Adam from the creation story because Adam was also believed to have been buried near the site of Christ's crucifixion. This is also a symbol that Jesus has died to save us from Adam's original sin.

• Cross: mean both suffering when Jesus was crucified and triumph for the redemption of the world from sin.

• The "s" curve: both of Jesus and Mary's bodies are positioned in a "S" shape to show their relationship to each other

• Crossbows: is a symbol of van der Weyden gratitude and respect towards St. Georges Guild of Crossbowmen at Louvain for commission of painting " Descent from the Cross". Christ and Virgin Mary both have their feet held together and their arms in a bowed extension making their bodies resemble a crossbow.

By: Linda, Ingrid and Nicole C.