Christ on the Cross Poster

A reproduction of Diego Velazquez’ “Christ on the Cross” of about 1632. Diego Velazquez was born in 1599 in Seville and became the leading Spanish painter of the Baroque Era. He was early apprenticed to two painters consecutively and by his early twenties was successful at painting in Seville and married. In 1622 he was commanded to Madried after the death of the official court painter. Within a year Velazquez became the official artist of the royal court and his reputation and success were secured. Velazquez was in Italy in 1629 and 1630 and when he returned to Spain he embarked on one of his most productive periods. This masterpiece comes from the second Madried period. Velazquez was again in Italy from 1649 to 1651 and during this period he was in great favour with the Papal court. His last nine years encompassed his third Madrid period from comes his phenomenal Las Meninas which is one of the most important works of painting in all of Western culture. This masterpiece of the Spanish Baroque is stark in its realism and delivers a powerful iconic imprssion of the suffering of Christ without any decorations or distractions from the central focus of the work. The original of this masterpiece is in the Prado Museum, Madrid.