Crucifixion
Joseph of Arimathaea before Pilate
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows and with special assistance of Mrs. Frederick B. Adams, Sr., Mrs. Robert Charles, Mr. Laurens M. Hamilton, The Heineman Foundation, Mrs. Donald F. Hyde, Mrs. Jacob M. Kaplan
The old turbaned centurion points to the crucified Christ and declares that indeed he was the Son of God: V(er)e filius d(e)i e(st) iste is inscribed on his scroll. On Christ's right, salvific blood drips from the wound in his hand onto the body of the good thief; on Christ's left, the bad thief, who turns away, receives no purification. At the foot of the Cross, Mary faints into the arms of John while the Magdalene commiserates. In the small miniature, Joseph of Arimathaea and, behind him, Nicodemus humbly ask Pilate for the body of the dead Savior. In the bottom border, a patently secular chase of rabbits by hounds is, nevertheless, an analogy for the Passion.