''Calvary'' is an oil-on-wood painting executed in 1475 by the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

painter

Antonello da Messina Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, but also called Antonello degli Antoni and Anglicized as Anthony of Messina ( 1430February 1479), was an Italian painter from Messina, active during the Early Italian Renaissance. ...

. Also known as the ''Antwerp Crucifixion'', it is now in the

Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (Dutch: ''Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen'', ''KMSKA'') is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, founded in 1810, that houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the fourteenth t ...

, making it the only work by the artist in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Context

This painting has an important benchmark value in the oeuvre of Antonello da Messina because it is one of the few signed (only twelve) and dated works (ten) by this painter. The painting belongs to the late work of the Sicilian artist and contains influences from South Italian, Flemish and Venetian styles.

Description

With this Calvary, the Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina painted a symbolic masterpiece about death and redemption. Christ hangs on the cross in the center of the panel. The good and the bad thief, flanking Christ on the cross, are tied to truncated trees. The bodies of the three condemned to death are realistically and plastically worked out. The study of the human body through anatomical research and dissection formed an important part of the Italian Renaissance artist's art of drawing. On the ground Mary mourns and kneels

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, Christ's favorite apostle. The skulls at the bottom of the cross refer to Adam. According to some, he was buried on

Golgotha Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...

, the hill on which Christ was killed. Because

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

could not resist the temptation of the serpent, sin entered the world. With his death on the cross, Christ put an end to the Fall. The theme of death and redemption is strongly present here in a symbolic way. The serpents winding through the skulls symbolize death or the devil. The owl at the front refers to the sinners who turn away from the "true faith" as a night bird shuns the daylight. A twig grows from a tree stump behind the cross, symbolizing the contrast between God's Old and New Covenant with mankind.

Influence of Flemish Primitives

The work of Antonello da Messina shows a clear influence of the

Flemish Primitives Early Netherlandish painting, traditionally known as the Flemish Primitives, refers to the work of artists active in the Burgundian Netherlands, Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period. ...

. This is particularly evident in the detailed elaboration of the plants and animals in the atmospherically rendered landscape. The painter also adopted the oil painting technique from the Flemish Primitives. This makes the reproduction of colors richer and more vibrant than with the older painting technique with

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

, a binder based on egg and glue. The artist probably became acquainted with the new technique through the presence of paintings by the Flemish Primitives in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and southern Italy.

References

Paintings in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp 1475 paintings Paintings by Antonello da Messina

Antonello Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, but also called Antonello degli Antoni and Anglicized as Anthony of Messina ( 1430February 1479), was an Italian painter from Messina, active during the Early Italian Renaissance. ...

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