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Picture of the day
The
Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John
is an oil painting by the Dutch artist
Hendrick ter Brugghen
, probably painted around 1625 as an
altarpiece
for a Catholic
clandestine church
likely located in
Utrecht
in the
Calvinist
Dutch
United Provinces
. The scene is taken from the account of the
crucifixion of Jesus
in the
Gospel of John
, and depicts Jesus being mourned by his mother
Mary
and
John the Apostle
. At the base of the cross are bones, traditionally identified as those of
Adam
. The scene is set in an atmosphere of deep dusk with stars visible in the background. The painting was not known until it was discovered in a bombed-out church in
South Hackney
, London, in 1956. Initially unrecognized, it was identified before an appearance at
Sotheby's
later that year. It was acquired by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York, where it now hangs.
Painting credit:
Hendrick ter Brugghen
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