# The Crucifixion

- By: Francisco de Zurbarán (Spanish, 1598–1664)
- Date: 1627
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: 290.3 × 165.5 cm (114 5/16 × 65 3/16 in.); Framed: 339.1 × 212.1 × 14 cm (133 3/8 × 83 1/2 × 5 1/2 in.)
- Culture: Spain
- Credit line: Robert A. Waller Memorial Fund
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/80084)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/c8ee825f-bc8c-c76b-1f05-5d692d9a6b47/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In 1626 the Dominican monastery of San Pablo el Real in Seville, Spain, commissioned the young Francisco de Zurbarán to execute a cycle of paintings including The Crucifixion. This work was installed in a dimly lit space in the monastery and was visible to visitors through a grill. Early commentators remarked on its powerful illusion of three-dimensionality, as though it was a sculpture rather than a painting. The dramatically illuminated figure of Christ, set against a dark, empty background, appears outside of time and place, both idealized in its quiet beauty and humanized by the individualized face and insistent realism.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0