Christ on the Cross

Christ hangs alone here, and nobody stands at the foot of the cross. That stripped-down image was in steady demand in Flanders around 1628 to 1630, when the churches of the Spanish Netherlands were still being refurnished after the image-breaking of the previous century, and Catholic patrons wanted pictures that held a viewer in private meditation. Van Dyck painted several versions of the lone crucified Christ in these years, for churches and for private owners. This canvas was enlarged at some point with a strip about 22 centimetres deep along the bottom, so the picture you see is taller than the one he painted. Vienna bought it from the Netherlands in 1774.