Public domain paintings of the Passion of Jesus Christ.
The burial of Jesus refers to the burial of the body of Jesus after crucifixion, before the eve of the sabbath described in the New Testament. According to the canonical gospel accounts, he was placed in a tomb by a councillor of the Sanhedrin named Joseph of Arimathea.
This monumental panel probably once decorated a chapel. Both are from a large window in which the Crucifixion was in the center and the Saint Christopher at the right. The third panel, which would have been on the left, is lost.
Despite the religious subject, the scale and intricate detail indicate that this painting was not for a church setting. Instead, as an independent work of art, a collector would have admired its artistry and unusual combination of Italian and northern European traditions.
Jean de Beaumetz became the official court painter to the Burgundian duke, Philip the Bold, in 1376. Between 1389 and 1395 he created devotional paintings for the monks’ cells at the Chartreuse de Champmol, the monastery founded by Philip and his wife Margaret to house the ducal tombs.
As Christ stumbled under the weight of the cross that he bore on the way to his crucifixion, Saint Veronica comforted him and wiped the blood and sweat from his face with her veil. The frontal view adopted in this portrait recalls the depiction of Christ’s face as it...
Peter Paul Rubens depicted the moment after the Crucifixion and before the Resurrection when Christ is placed into the tomb. He is being supported by those closest to him in life: John the Evangelist, in a brilliant red robe, bears the weight of Christ; Mary Magdalene cries in the background;...
Two of Christ's followers, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, carry his body from the cross to the tomb. Mary, his mother, kneels and pulls her son's face close to hers for one last moment, while Mary Magdalene kneels tearfully at his feet in splendid brocaded robes....
In this depiction of Christ’s arduous journey to his own crucifixion, Domenichino situates Christ at the forefront of the composition, gazing sorrowfully out at the viewer. Christ’s oppression and the cruelty of his tormentors are emphasized by the crowded composition, in which the figures seem to bear down...
Christ, haggard and sorrowful, weeps copiously. He wears the Crown of Thorns; its vicious spines pierce his forehead and his right eyebrow and extend menacingly outwards, accentuated by the brilliant golden radiance behind him. Blood from his wounds runs through his hair, down the neckline of his cloak and beneath...
As was customary for promising Dutch painters in the 1600s, Gerrit van Honthorst traveled to Italy to complete his artistic training. In Rome he fell under the spell of Caravaggio's revolutionary style and adopted his use of realistic figures and dramatic lighting, known as chiaroscuro. In Italy he...
Drops of blood are visible on Christ's brow as he carries the cross to his Crucifixion. The immediacy of this close-up image invites the viewer to contemplate the pain and meaning of Christ's sacrifice. Associated with Leonardo da Vinci, Marco d'Oggiono subtly manipulated...
In this painting, the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, and Saint Mary Magdalene grieve over the body of Christ while displaying it to the viewer. Although Gerard David and earlier Netherlandish painters often treated the Lamentation as a private devotional subject, this panel was part of a large altarpiece...
This is a rare example of a surviving 15th-century painting from the northern provinces of the Netherlands (present-day Holland). This region had fewer centers of artistic production than the more populous southern Netherlands, and it also experienced substantial destruction of artworks during the iconoclastic outbursts of the mid-...
This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for...
Against an open, hilly landscape, the lifeless body of Christ hangs from a wood cross, his slumped head, open mouth and tense muscles capture the dramatic moment of his death. The monumental figures of the Virgin (left) and Saint John the Evangelist (right) stand at his side and in the...
In this painting, El Greco combines the iconic power of the crucifix with the expressive power of landscape painting. He sets the cross atop Golgotha, the "place of the skull," with Jerusalem looming in the background. He eliminates the other characters from the biblical narrative, encouraging the viewer...
This small painting was probably the right-hand side of a diptych with two hinged panels. Very likely the panel opposite depicted the Virgin and Child. The man or woman who meditated on this image during private devotions would have made an intimate connection with the grief of the mourners...
This crowded and colorful panel displays the story of Christ's Crucifixion along with episodes of damnation and salvation. At the left, Christ carries the cross and Veronica hands him her veil. In the center, Christ's broken body hangs on the cross between the two thieves. At...
The son of Fra Filippo Lippi, Filippino began his training as a very young boy in his father's workshop. Documents record a partial payment he received in 1469 for the frescoes in the apse of the duomo in Spoleto, whose execution, interrupted by Fra Filippo's death...
The Corpse of Christ is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Annibale Carracci, dating to c. 1583-1585 and housed in the Staatsgalerie of Stuttgart, Germany. The work, dating to Carracci's early career, is a manifest homage to Andrea Mantegna's Dead Christ, which he had...
Jesus hangs on the cross, his attenuated arms stretched far apart. He looks down at his grieving mother, whose flowing draperies emphasize her swooning posture. By depicting him with an elongated torso, uncomfortably crossed legs, and an elegantly drooping head, the artist emphasized Jesus' human suffering and frailty. The...
In this depiction of the lamentation of Christ, Fernando Gallego looked to Northern European paintings for inspiration but included distinctly Spanish elements such as a subdued palette and unidealized figures. Unlike Netherlandish artists who were interested in depicting the natural world in minute detail, Gallego concentrated on the pietà'...
The use of light and shade, saturated colors, and bold gestures dramatically capture the drama of the Resurrection, so vividly recorded in the Bible. Famous as the teacher of Rembrandt, Pieter Lastman brought a direct, emotional conviction to religious themes in his native Amsterdam in the early 1600s. In The...
A free downloadable public domain Catholic painting.
