Triptych: Scenes from the Passion of Christ

The story of the Passion (Christ’s torture and crucifixion) unfolds across three crowded panels. On the left, Christ is led out from his trial; in the centre he has been crucified; to the right, his dead body is taken down from the Cross.

The sacred events seem to be taking place near the city of Delft: we can see the tower of its New Church in the background of the centre panel. The triptych (a painting made of three parts) was probably made for the convent of Koningsveld, just outside Delft. The man wearing a white habit and kneeling at the front of the centre panel is likely to be Herman van Rossum, provost of Koningsveld, who may have commissioned the triptych for the high altar in around 1510.

Text: © The National Gallery, London

Painting photographed in its frame by Google Arts and Culture, 2023.