De Kruisoprichting | The Elevation of the Cross

The reproduction engraving of the right part of the altarpiece The Elevation of the Cross, by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), depicts the events taking place on Golgotha. In the foreground there is a woman, half lying, with a small, naked, frightened child hugging her. Behind her, three other women of different ages are sitting in various poses, with frightened little children clinging and cuddling to them. All women lament the crucified Christ. Two seemingly calm people are standing behind them: the Virgin Mary, with her back turned to the cross but looking towards it and St. John the Evangelist, with a gentle expression on his face, calming her and holding her hands. In the background, several men help with the elevation of the cross on the left, and the dark slope of the hill surrounding the place of execution on the right (compare with the engraving MNS/Graf/3886). Under the engraving, there is a fragment of the dedication to Cornelis van der Geest (1577-1638), a rich Antwerp merchant and patron of artists. The formula of the printing privilege says that it was issued by the Christian ruler of the Belgians and Batavians, i.e. Philip IV of Habsburg (1605-1665), who ruled at that time in the southern part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the mouth of the Rhine. The prototype of the presented engraving was created by Rubens in 1610-1611 for the castle church of St. Walburga in Antwerp, but since 1816 it has been stored in the Antwerp Cathedral of Our Lady. Jan Witdoeck (around 1615 – after 1642), a Flemish engraver, draftsman and art dealer, was initially educated by the engraver Lucas Vorsterman I (1595-1675), who collaborated with Rubens. From 1631 to 1633 he was a student of the painter and graphic artist Cornelis Schut (1597-1655), whose works he copied. He was part of the last generation of the engravers who worked in Rubens's workshop, with whom he had been cooperating from approximately 1635. At that time, he made large-format reproduction engravings on religious, mythological and allegorical themes. Ewa Gwiazdowska