The Descent from the Cross (Rubens, 1600–1602)

Descent from the Cross is an oil-on-canvas painting of 1600–1602 by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, now in the Siegerlandmuseum in the Oberes Schloss in Siegen.

The painting remained somewhat obscure until 2001, when it was discovered by German art historian Justus Müller-Hofstede, a specialist on Rubens' early work.

[1][2][3] The large-size altarpiece revolutionizes the usual illustrations of Jesus' Descent from the Cross of the Cinquecento and engrosses the idea of the holy Eucharist: The kneeling lady in the foreground as a symbolic embodiment of the duchess who receives the Body of Christ like a lover for supper (cf.

[4] Stylistically, the painting is comparable to another early work created approximately at the same time: The Elevation of the Cross for the chapel of the church Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, which offers the same perspective to the mourning group of women.

Rubens as the creator of the painting is proven archivally since it was copied by the court painter Francesco Marcoleoni in 1611 (after the duchess' death) for the church Santa Maria Assunta in Susano.