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Original fileThe Dead Saviour Supported by an Angel
About This Work
Christ’s muscular, slumped body is held upright by a winged angel who gazes upward in sorrow. A small angel at the lower right gathers the crown of thorns and nails into a basket, while another on the left gestures toward the central figures. The scene is rendered with the characteristic swelling and tapering lines of Dutch Mannerism, emphasizing the physical weight of the body and the dramatic textures of rock and fabric.
This print is a collaboration between Goltzius and Bartholomeus Spranger, the court painter to Rudolf II in Prague, a major center for Hermeticism and alchemy. The intense focus on the 'Anatomy of Christ' in this period often served as a Neoplatonic bridge between the physical suffering of the flesh and the divine light of the spirit, a theme prevalent in Rudolfine intellectual circles.