The Crucifixion

In 1626 the Dominican monastery of San Pablo el Real in Seville, Spain, commissioned the young Francisco de Zurbarán to execute a cycle of paintings including The Crucifixion. This work was installed in a dimly lit space in the monastery and was visible to visitors through a grill. Early commentators remarked on its powerful illusion of three-dimensionality, as though it was a sculpture rather than a painting. The dramatically illuminated figure of Christ, set against a dark, empty background, appears outside of time and place, both idealized in its quiet beauty and humanized by the individualized face and insistent realism.