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The Most Extreme Crucifixion in Art
Experience the intensity of The Isenheim Altarpiece
Look how his body is emaciated and maimed, his torso gnarled by a thousand lashes of a whip. Viewed up close, the flesh can be seen to prickle with splinters and sores. His loincloth is surely the most ragged strip of material ever painted in Western art.
As if animated by a final gasp of breath, his nail-riven hands twist and sprawl in an unmistakable gesture of anguish.
As a reminder of the suffering that Christ endured during The Crucifixion, there is perhaps no other depiction as visceral as this altarpiece image, known as The Isenheim Altarpiece.
It is a masterpiece of German Renaissance art. It is also an image that, once seen, is never forgotten.
Taking a wider view, we see Christ on the cross against a gloomy night-filled landscape.
Above Christ’s head are the initials INRI. These represent the Latin inscription IESVS NAZARENVS…
