The Book of Mormon Art Catalog

Authors

Jennifer Champoux

Keywords

religious art, Christ's descent, crucifixion, Counter-Reform Flemish painting, Protestant Amsterdam, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Bible studies

Abstract

You can learn much about a society from its religious art. Compare, for example, two images of Christ’s descent from the cross—one a Counter-Reformation Flemish painting and the other from just twenty years later in nearby Protestant Amsterdam. In the earlier piece, Peter Paul Rubens (fig. 1) creates a scene of movement, drama, vivid color, and swirling drapery and depicts the body of Christ as muscular and heroic. In the second, by Rembrandt (fig. 2), we see a somber, quiet, darkly monochromatic scene and Christ’s frail, sagging body. How might we account for such different visual interpretations of this pivotal biblical moment by two nearly contemporary artists? And what might these differences tell us about the religion, the people, and their values?

Recommended Citation

Champoux, Jennifer (2023) "The Book of Mormon Art Catalog," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 62: Iss. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol62/iss1/6