I just finished painting an "icon" of the Descent from the Cross, based on an image from the Novgorod school. This school of iconography is noted for its use of brilliant colors, even in more somber icons like this one. Now I find myself going back to oil painting, and I am working on one of the crucifixion (a semi-original composition). The colors are dark and earthy, almost like the Rembrandt painting to the left.
It has been fascinating to me to compare these two themes: the crucifixion and the descent from the cross. For me, it is the descent which is the sadder of the two. There is a certain finality present in the descent that is not there in the crucifixion. In the crucifixi0n Jesus is dying. In the descent, He is dead. In the crucifixion, Jesus is still there with some of His disciples, but in the descent, the disciples and His Blessed Mother are all alone. Maybe it also has something to do with the bastardization of the image of the crucifixion... you see it everywhere in popular culture, jewelry, etc. And when you see something that much you almost become numb to it. Not so with the descent. When was the last time we saw someone with a beautiful little "descent from the cross" necklace?
