Cameo Sculpture - The Crucifixion of Christ
Cameo Sculpture - The Crucifixion of Christ John, 19, 25-30 . Hardly any scene from the life of Christ has been depicted as often in the history of western art as his crucifixion. This is probably due to the fact that the decisive act of salvation happens here for the Christian, that the central symbol is provided, the cross, and that Christ is shown in a peculiar intermediate stage between man and God. Now, in the course of art history, it depended on what the artists wanted to see the Lord on the cross as in each case: More as a mortal man or more as an earth-transported God. This distinction could already be seen in the composition, whether the artist depicts an individual dying in isolation, such as Albrecht Dürer or Diego Velasquez, or whether he stages a mass scene with all the people and props mentioned in the Bible, as was done mainly in the late Middle Ages and the baroque period.
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld finds an intermediate solution between mass scene and isolation by creating a truly monumental main group of 7 people, which he frames by the two thieves crucified together with Christ on the right and left. Consequently, the main subject and the frame leave three gaps through which one can look into the middle ground or the background. There you can still sense something of the mass spectacle that such a crucifixion has always been. The soldier with the vinegar sponge on the pipe mediates between the monumental group around the cross and the masses in the background, who turn away from the cross and thus from Christ. The aforementioned monumental of the original is also very impressively shown in the engraving. The relief figures are strongly carved: On the left side John and the two women, of whom Mary, the more active, embraces her son with both arms. On the right, Mary Magdalene kneels, caressing the feet of the crucified, while another female figure and Nicodemus show their suffering in a restrained and expressive manner, respectively.
Out of this group -absolutely dominating- the crucified one stands out. The crown of thorns, the aura of rays and the inscription are now and above the head drawn together to form an impressive statement center. There, in the "head full of blood and wounds" our salvation is concentrated. The T-shape of the cross is also related to this: It is the center post and the lintel to the gate of paradise that Christ has pushed open for all of us with his act of redemption. Around him -and this is an impressive contrast in the engraving- is darkness, but he, Christ, is the shining center.
Cameo Sculpture Collection - The Crucifixion of Christ
Agate cameo „The Crucifixion of Christ“, black-white, 172 x 163 mm
Total width: 210 mm, Total height: 190 mm, Total depth: 105 mm
Cameo stand: blackened bronze, Base: slate
material: Brazilian banded agate.
Cameo Sculpture - The Crucifixion of Christ John, 19, 25-30 . Hardly any scene from the life of Christ has been depicted as often in the history of western art as his crucifixion. This is probably due to the fact that the decisive act of salvation happens here for the Christian, that the central symbol is provided, the cross, and that Christ is shown in a peculiar intermediate stage between man and God. Now, in the course of art history, it depended on what the artists wanted to see the Lord on the cross as in each case: More as a mortal man or more as an earth-transported God. This distinction could already be seen in the composition, whether the artist depicts an individual dying in isolation, such as Albrecht Dürer or Diego Velasquez, or whether he stages a mass scene with all the people and props mentioned in the Bible, as was done mainly in the late Middle Ages and the baroque period.
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld finds an intermediate solution between mass scene and isolation by creating a truly monumental main group of 7 people, which he frames by the two thieves crucified together with Christ on the right and left. Consequently, the main subject and the frame leave three gaps through which one can look into the middle ground or the background. There you can still sense something of the mass spectacle that such a crucifixion has always been. The soldier with the vinegar sponge on the pipe mediates between the monumental group around the cross and the masses in the background, who turn away from the cross and thus from Christ. The aforementioned monumental of the original is also very impressively shown in the engraving. The relief figures are strongly carved: On the left side John and the two women, of whom Mary, the more active, embraces her son with both arms. On the right, Mary Magdalene kneels, caressing the feet of the crucified, while another female figure and Nicodemus show their suffering in a restrained and expressive manner, respectively.
Out of this group -absolutely dominating- the crucified one stands out. The crown of thorns, the aura of rays and the inscription are now and above the head drawn together to form an impressive statement center. There, in the "head full of blood and wounds" our salvation is concentrated. The T-shape of the cross is also related to this: It is the center post and the lintel to the gate of paradise that Christ has pushed open for all of us with his act of redemption. Around him -and this is an impressive contrast in the engraving- is darkness, but he, Christ, is the shining center.
Cameo Sculpture Collection - The Crucifixion of Christ
Agate cameo „The Crucifixion of Christ“, black-white, 172 x 163 mm
Total width: 210 mm, Total height: 190 mm, Total depth: 105 mm
Cameo stand: blackened bronze, Base: slate
material: Brazilian banded agate.
Cameo Sculpture - The Crucifixion of Christ John, 19, 25-30 . Hardly any scene from the life of Christ has been depicted as often in the history of western art as his crucifixion. This is probably due to the fact that the decisive act of salvation happens here for the Christian, that the central symbol is provided, the cross, and that Christ is shown in a peculiar intermediate stage between man and God. Now, in the course of art history, it depended on what the artists wanted to see the Lord on the cross as in each case: More as a mortal man or more as an earth-transported God. This distinction could already be seen in the composition, whether the artist depicts an individual dying in isolation, such as Albrecht Dürer or Diego Velasquez, or whether he stages a mass scene with all the people and props mentioned in the Bible, as was done mainly in the late Middle Ages and the baroque period.
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld finds an intermediate solution between mass scene and isolation by creating a truly monumental main group of 7 people, which he frames by the two thieves crucified together with Christ on the right and left. Consequently, the main subject and the frame leave three gaps through which one can look into the middle ground or the background. There you can still sense something of the mass spectacle that such a crucifixion has always been. The soldier with the vinegar sponge on the pipe mediates between the monumental group around the cross and the masses in the background, who turn away from the cross and thus from Christ. The aforementioned monumental of the original is also very impressively shown in the engraving. The relief figures are strongly carved: On the left side John and the two women, of whom Mary, the more active, embraces her son with both arms. On the right, Mary Magdalene kneels, caressing the feet of the crucified, while another female figure and Nicodemus show their suffering in a restrained and expressive manner, respectively.
Out of this group -absolutely dominating- the crucified one stands out. The crown of thorns, the aura of rays and the inscription are now and above the head drawn together to form an impressive statement center. There, in the "head full of blood and wounds" our salvation is concentrated. The T-shape of the cross is also related to this: It is the center post and the lintel to the gate of paradise that Christ has pushed open for all of us with his act of redemption. Around him -and this is an impressive contrast in the engraving- is darkness, but he, Christ, is the shining center.
Cameo Sculpture Collection - The Crucifixion of Christ
Agate cameo „The Crucifixion of Christ“, black-white, 172 x 163 mm
Total width: 210 mm, Total height: 190 mm, Total depth: 105 mm
Cameo stand: blackened bronze, Base: slate
material: Brazilian banded agate.