[1] Beckmann's harsh experience serving in the German Army during World War I influenced his new approach to painting in the following years.

His works from this period include several paintings with religious themes, such as Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery and this Descent from the Cross, created both in 1917.

Beckmann was influenced for this painting in particular by the work of German Renaissance painters, such as Matthias Grünewald and Hans Holbein.

[2] The composition, using several perspectives and distorted figures, is dominated by the oversize corpse of Jesus, which occupies the central place.

Two men carry the corpse of Jesus from the cross, while their ladder extends to outside the painting, as if pointing to Heaven.