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What Our Lord Saw from the Cross (Ce que voyait Notre-Seigneur sur la Croix)
- Portfolio/Series:
The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ (La Vie de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ) - Artist: James Tissot, French, 1836-1902
- Medium: Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray-green wove paper
- Place Made: France
- Dates: 1886-1894
- Dimensions: Image: 9 3/4 x 9 1/16 in. (24.8 x 23 cm) Sheet: 9 3/4 x 9 1/16 in. (24.8 x 23 cm)
- Signature: Signed bottom right: "J.J. Tissot"
- Collections: European Art
- Museum Location:
This item is on view in Robert E. Blum Gallery, 1st Floor - Accession Number: 00.159.299
- Credit Line: Purchased by public subscription
- Image: Overall, 00.159.299_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2008
In the most memorable, and even notorious, of Tissot’s images, Christ looks out at the crowd of spectators arrayed before him: Mary Magdalene, in the immediate foreground, with her long red tresses swirling down her back, kneels at his feet, which are clearly visible at the bottom center of the composition. Beyond her, the Virgin Mary clutches her breast, while John the Evangelist looks up with hands clasped.
The artist here adopts the point of view of Christ himself. Few painters have conceived a composition this daring. In his audacity, however, Tissot remains true to his artistic vision: ultimately, the image is an exercise in empathy. Its point is to give viewers, accustomed to looking at the event from the outside, a rare opportunity to imagine themselves in Christ’s place and consider his final thoughts and feelings as he gazed on the enemies and friends who were witnessing, or participating in, his death.
electrette
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum 