Pieta by Rogier van der Weyden

Pay attention to how different this style is from the famous “Descent from the Cross” written a decade earlier.

Note, however, that in “Drinking” and “Taking off the Cross” the master pursues the same goal – to achieve the ultimate “emotional distinctness” of the depicted scene.

But if in the “Drink” Rogier goes to this goal by piling and colliding the details, then in “Removing the Cross”, on the contrary, minimizes all “background details” in order to sharpen the viewer’s attention to the main action.

Related Paintings

Pieta – Rogier van der Weyden The removal from the cross by Rogier van der Weyden Chronicles of Hainaut by Rogier van der Weyden Triptych “Crucifixion” by Rogier van der Weyden Triptych “The Seven Sacraments” by Rogier van der Weyden Calvary by Rogier van der Weyden Altar of St. John the Baptist by Rogier van der Weyden Madonna with the Child and the Four Saints by Rogier van der Weyden