The Deposition

                                   

 

 

The Deposition or The Descent of Christ from the Cross, was painted between 1435-1438 by Rogier Van Der Weyden. The c. 1435 date is estimated based on the work's style, and because the artist acquired wealth and renown around this time, most likely from the prestige this work allowed him.It was painted early in his career, shortly after he completed his apprenticeship with Robert Campin and shows the older painter's influence, most notable in the hard sculpted surfaces, realistic facial features and vivid primary colours, mostly reds, whites and blues.The work was a self-conscious attempt by van der Weyden to create a masterpiece that would establish an international reputation. The painting not only demonstrates the expansion made into the guild system, but also emphasizes the pain that was suffered by not only Christ's followers but by his beautiful mother as well. The curvature motion  of both Christ and Mary shows that Mary felt the pain her beloved son experienced. It shows the grief that breaks a mother's heart over the loss of her child.  Its clear that this painting targeted women viewers especially. At the time in which this art work was created mortality rates were high and so were the numbers of grieving mothers for the loss of their babies. This painting shared a feeling many women could relate to at the point in time and that feeling was grief.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Descent_from_the_Cross_(van_der_Weyden)