Leaf from a Missal: The Crucifixion

Illuminations of Christ’s crucifixion, often encompassing an entire page in a missal, served as prefatory images to the Canon of Mass. Following the traditional iconography of Crucifixion scenes, this leaf depicts a mournful Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist standing on either side of the cross, with a skull resting in the grass in the foreground between them. Commonly associated with the Old Testament figure of Adam, the original sinner, this skull emphasizes Christ’s role as redeemer of the world’s sins, and functioned as a visual reminder of his sacrifice, ceremoniously repeated during the mass through the transformation of bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood. Through Christ’s bleeding wounds and emaciated body, this image further emphasizes his suffering and ultimate death. The page comes from a missal that was used by the priest of a hospital in Biberach, a town in southern Germany. The artist framed the imposing full-page miniature with an illusionistic frame modeled on those used in contemporary panel painting.