Christus aan het kruis, met Johannes en Maria. NL-HlmNHA 1477 53009989

Jesus hangs upon the wooden cross in the center, while two angels hover beside his hands to catch the falling blood in liturgical chalices. Below, the Virgin Mary stands in prayerful mourning on the left, and Saint John the Evangelist gazes upward in grief on the right. Skulls and bones are scattered at the base of the cross, and a personified sun and moon are faintly visible in the sky above a distant city.

This engraving reflects the Haarlem Mannerist interest in cosmic symbolism, using the personified Sun and Moon to mark the Passion as a macrocosmic event. The imagery of the blood of Christ being collected in vessels later resonated with alchemical and Rosicrucian thinkers who interpreted the 'Blood of the Lamb' as a spiritual 'Tincture' or the vital force necessary for the Great Work.