The Crucifixion
Thomas Eakins, American, 1844 - 1916
Geography:
Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
Date:
1880Medium:
Oil on canvasDimensions:
96 x 54 inches (243.8 x 137.2 cm)Curatorial Department:
American ArtObject Location:
1929-184-24Credit Line:
Gift of Mrs. Thomas Eakins and Miss Mary Adeline Williams, 1929
Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
Date:
1880Medium:
Oil on canvasDimensions:
96 x 54 inches (243.8 x 137.2 cm)Curatorial Department:
American ArtObject Location:
* Gallery 155, European Art 1850-1900, first floor (Annenberg Galleries)
Accession Number:1929-184-24Credit Line:
Gift of Mrs. Thomas Eakins and Miss Mary Adeline Williams, 1929
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This painting of the Crucifixion, Eakins's only religious work, demonstrates the artist's interest in rendering the human body realistically. Jesus's sagging torso, bent knees, stretched arms, and clenched hands all suggest an actual male body hanging from a cross in the agony of his last moments. To understand the human anatomy in this position, Eakins strapped a model, one of his students, to a cross.
Eakins spent most of his life in Philadelphia, but trained in a Paris studio where the study of the nude was considered an essential basis for painting.
* Works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit.
