La Descente de croix

The Master of the Argonauts's La Descente de croix (Descent from the Cross), painted around 1450 and now in the Musée du Petit Palais in Avignon, depicts the moment after the Crucifixion when Christ's body was taken down from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, witnessed by the Virgin, Mary Magdalene, and other disciples. The Descent from the Cross was one of the most emotionally and compositionally demanding subjects in Christian art — requiring the painter to render the transition between the static dignity of the crucified body and the dynamic grief of those receiving it.

Tempera on panel. The Descent composition presents the technical challenge of the inert body of Christ being lowered from the cross — typically shown suspended in midair with Joseph of Arimathea on a ladder above and figures below receiving the body.