Rogier van der Weyden Paints Descent from the Cross
1435
The Flemish master completed his monumental altarpiece for the Leuven crossbowmen's guild, depicting Christ's body being lowered tenderly from the cross while the Virgin collapses in a parallel swoon that mirrors her son's descent. The painting compressed real human grief into a shallow golden box with an emotional power that reportedly made viewers weep on sight. Northern European painting had found its devastating emotional register.
In context
Also in 1435 (4 other events on record)
- Ming Court Abandons Maritime Ambitions · East Asia · Politics
- Treaty of Arras · Europe · Politics
- Leon Battista Alberti Writes De Pictura · Europe · Science
- Fall of Paris Prepared · Europe · War
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.