Taking christ down off the cross

Descent from the Cross, 1653
Adam Lenckhardt (German, 1610-1661)
http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1967.134

I was searching through my hard drives looking for a specific picture (not this one) when I found a set of pictures that I took at the Cleveland Museum of Art a few years ago.. looking through them this one jumped out at me as a particularly striking piece that I had forgotten about.. I really like it ... it reminds me about a part of the christian redemption story that we tend not to focus too much on.. the sad and dreary work of taking christ down off the cross in (apparent) total defeat.

This piece stylizes the figures (including christ) in a very typically european/greek italian renaissance way (muscular, healthy, etc..) ... but it still manages to stir the intense sadness and despair that this moment embodies (no pun intended) .. People who know me know that I am not at all religious in any culturally recognizable way (in fact, I couldn't fault anyone for counting me as an atheist), but I have to say.. this is the kind of christian art I would be willing to display in my home.. except if I were going to commission it, i would ask the sculptor to make the figures much more frail and weak - almost holocaust like .. at least that's how it makes me feel.. I very much relate to the task of taking christ down off the cross. I think all christians should focus on that more.

It was also beautifully coincidental that as I am writing this post, I'm listing to Pink Floyd radio on the internet and the Crying Song was playing.. how perfect.

"We smile and smile
We smile and smile
Laughter echoes in your eyes

We climb and climb
We climb and climb
Footfalls softly in the pines

We cry and cry
We cry and cry
Sadness passes in a while

We roll and roll
We roll and roll
Help me roll away the stone"

Anyway.. just thought I share. Enjoy.




Descent from the Cross, 1653
Adam Lenckhardt (German, 1610-1661)

ivory, Overall: 44.7 x 16.5 x 12.1 cm (17 9/16 x 6 7/16 x 4 3/4 in.). John L. Severance Fund 1967.134

Location:  215 French, German, and Dutch

Description
Carved from a single piece of ivory for Prince Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein of Vienna, this work is a true tour-de-force. It took Lenckhardt seven years to complete; it is his last known sculpture and the pinnacle of his career. The biblical accounts of the descent from the cross found in the gospels are not consistent, which may contribute to the difficulty in precisely identifying the figures. The Virgin Mary, Saint John, Mary Magdalene, and others were said to be present, but undoubtedly there are other disciples here mourning Christ’s death. The intense emotion registers on the faces of the figures in the scrupulous and exquisitely detailed work.


Inscription
inscribed with monogram "AL" conjoined and dated 1653.

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