The Good Thief on the Cross / Artist Unknown, School of Kalkar, Germany

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About this Item

Record Details

Accession Number
1976/1.233
Title
The Good Thief on the Cross
Artist Nationality
German
Medium and Support
walnut with polychrome
Object Creation Date
circa 1520
Object Creation Place
Europe (continent)
Germany (nation)
North Rhine-Westphalia (state)
Creation Place 1
Europe (continent)
Creation Place 2
Germany (nation)
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Style/Group/Movement
Northern Renaissance
Dimensions
26 cm x 12.5 cm x 4 cm (10 1/4 in. x 4 15/16 in. x 1 9/16 in.)
Century
16th century
Primary Object Classification
Sculpture
Primary Object Type
carving
Secondary Object Classification
Ritual Objects
Secondary Object Type
altarpiece
Physical Description
A bearded man, wearing a loincloth and a long trailing headband, hangs from a cross by his arms, which have split open beneath the ropes that bind them. His left leg hangs downward and passes behind his right foot, which perches precariously on a forked branch. He strains to his left and gazes upward with his mouth open in a tortured movement augmented by the dramatic sweeps of drapery that frame his torso.
Subject Matter
This bearded figure bound to a cross represents the Good Thief described in the gospel of Luke who was crucified alongside Christ and decried the injustice of Christ's execution (Luke 23:39-43). This sculpture once formed part of a complex, multi-figure altarpiece depicting the Crucifixion in which the Good Thief would have appeared next to a larger figure of the crucified Christ.
Rights
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Technical Details

Image Size
811 x 1129
File Size
62 KB
Record
1976/1.233
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1976-sl-1.233/1976_1.233.jpg

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Manifest
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1976-SL-1.233:1976_1.233.JPG

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Full citation
"The Good Thief on the Cross; Artist Unknown, School of Kalkar, Germany." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1976-sl-1.233/1976_1.233.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 28, 2024.
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