The Crucifixion with a Carthusian Monk
workshop of Rogier van der Weyden (Flemish, c. 1399–1464)
1460
- Medium
- oil and gold on wood
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Image: 37.1 x 27.3 cm (14 5/8 x 10 3/4 in.); Framed: 57.5 x 48 x 7 cm (22 5/8 x 18 7/8 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 38.4 x 29.2 cm (15 1/8 x 11 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Netherlands
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Medieval Art
- Credit line
- Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This painting shows a Carthusian monk kneeling in devotion and prayer before the Crucifixion. It is likely that this panel was intended for the cell of a monk in an unknown monastery. The Carthusians were particularly devoted to the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ, and devotional images were provided for each monk’s cell. The Carthusian order was founded by Saint Bruno in 1084 with the purpose of providing the strictest separation from the world. The first Carthusians were dedicated to contemplation through silence, prayer, poverty, penance, and almost continuous occupancy of a solitary cell. The solitary life could only be maintained through the establishment of separate cell houses. Each community of monks was limited to the apostolic number of 12, though exceptions were sometimes made. They were recognized by their white, full-length, cowled habit called the scapular, shown here. The artist has not been identified.
