Crucifixion in the arts

[2][3][4][5][6] The text scrawled around the image reads in Greek Αλεξαμενος ϲεβετε θεον, which approximately translates to "Alexamenos worships God".

[12] The purported discovery of the True Cross by Constantine's mother, Helena, and the development of Golgotha as a site for pilgrimage, together with the dispersal of fragments of the relic across the Christian world, led to a change of attitude.

Early depictions showed a living Christ, and tended to minimize the appearance of suffering, so as to draw attention to the positive message of resurrection and faith, rather than to the physical realities of execution.

[12][15] In the early history of the church in Ireland, important events were often commemorated by erecting pillars with elaborate crucifixes carved into them, such as where Saint Patrick, returning as a missionary bishop, saw the place he was held captive in his youth.

[16] Early Byzantine depictions such as that in the Rabbula Gospels often show Christ flanked by Longinus and Stephaton with their spear and pole with vinegar.

Their work was heavily influenced by Venetian painting but followed the Greek mannerism prevalent at the time known as the Maniera Greca.

The first of these is the earliest near life-size sculpted cross to survive, and in its large scale represents "suffering in its extreme physical consequences", a trend that was to continue in the West.

[29] Such figures, especially as roods, large painted or sculpted crucifixes hung high in front of the chancel of churches, became very important in Western art, providing a sharp contrast with Eastern Orthodox traditions, where the subject was never depicted in monumental sculpture, and increasingly rarely even in small Byzantine ivories.

The number of other figures shown depended on the size and medium of the work, but there was a similar trend for early depictions to show a number of figures, giving way in the High Middle Ages to just the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, shown standing on either side of the cross, as in the Stabat Mater depictions, or sculpted or painted on panels at the end of each arm of a rood cross.

There were also representations of the alleged aggressors, including depictions of Jews mocking, glaring, slapping, and ultimately crucifying Jesus.

[31] Although according to the Gospel accounts his clothing was removed from Jesus before his crucifixion, most artists have thought it proper to represent his lower body as draped in some way.

In one type of sculpted crucifix, of which the Volto Santo in Lucca is the classic example, Christ continued to wear the long collobium robe of the Rabbula Gospels.

In the Late Middle Ages, increasingly intense and realistic representations of suffering were shown,[35] paired with increasingly grotesque and malicious depictions of Pontius Pilate and the allegedly murderous Jews, reflecting the development of highly emotional andachtsbilder subjects and devotional trends such as German mysticism; some, like the Throne of Mercy, Man of Sorrows and Pietà, related to the Crucifixion.

Fiona Macdonald describes the 1954 painting as showing a classical pose of Christ superimposed on a mathematical representation of the fourth dimension that is both unseeable and spiritual;[37] Gary Bolyer assesses it as "one of the most beautiful works of the modern era.

The stained glass window depicts a black man, arms outstretched, reminiscent of the crucifixion of Jesus; it was sculpted by John Petts, who also initiated a campaign in Wales to raise money to help rebuild the church.

Robert Cenedella painted a crucified Santa Claus as a protest against Christmas commercialization,[45] displayed in the window of New York's Art Students League in December 1997.

Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion of the Christ (2004) depicted an extreme level of violence, but showed the nails being driven into Jesus' palms, as is traditional, with ropes supporting the wrists.

The character Big Bob is crucified by cannibals in Wes Craven's horror exploitation film The Hills Have Eyes (1977) as well as its 2006 remake.

On the December 7, 1998, edition of WWF Monday Night Raw, professional wrestling character The Undertaker crucified Steve Austin.

[68] The HBO television series Rome (2005–2007) contained several depictions of crucifixion, as it was a common torture method during the historical period the show takes place in.

[69] In the History Channel series "Vikings", the character Æthelstan, after being captured by the Saxons and named an apostate, is shown wearing a crown of thorns and being nailed to a cross.

[citation needed] The Japanese science fiction series Neon Genesis Evangelion features crucifixion as a recurring motif.

During the Pilot episode of Smallville, Clark Kent was tied up (only his underwear and a red S painted on his chest) on a scarecrow pole, resembling very much like a cross, and subdued with a Kryptonite necklace.

In Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, one of the women gets ultimately crucified on a cross with screws as Monokuma plays with the marionette strings.

In Fallout: New Vegas, a faction loosely inspired by ancient Rome known as Caesar's Legion regularly crucifies both its own citizens in Arizona and prisoners of their military campaign in the Mojave Wasteland.

The third section of a full mass, the Credo, contains the following passage at its climax: "Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est," which means "And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried."

The Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth had several people on stage affixed to crosses to give the appearance of crucifixion at a now infamous concert in Kraków,[72] and repeated this act in the music video for "Carving a Giant."

In 2006, singer Madonna opened a provocative concert held near Vatican City with an onstage crucifixion, complete with a crown of thorns, which was also labeled as a move to bring attention to the issue of African children dying of AIDS.

[73][74] Sue Monk Kidd's 2020 novel The Book of Longings, tells the fictional story of Ana, an educated woman who marries Jesus.