Father-Pietà

1524

The redemption of mankind through Christ’s death on the cross is the central theme in Christian art, and thus also in this presentation of the Rijksmuseum’s acquisitions. Hogenberg, who was active in Mechelen, portrays Christ’s sacrifice in an impressive depiction of God the Father seated on a celestial globe with His dead son in His lap. Below them is a terrestrial globe with a view of Jerusalem.