Diptych with the Passion of Christc. 1400 · Study 1945.115

Context from the museum

This diptych, or two-panel painting, is hinged at the center so that it could be opened and closed and easily transported. It was clearly designed as an object for private devotion. The owner would have been able to contemplate the Passion of Christ and pray before these scenes. The top two images depict Christ’s scourging at the pillar and the crowning of thorns, while the lower two show Jesus before Pontius Pilate and in the Garden of Gethsemane. The scenes would have been read clockwise beginning with the lower right. On the back of these panels are remnants of paintings that have since been scraped off.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

A detail to notice

This painting was probably not originally a diptych but part of a larger ensemble.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for Diptych with the Passion of Christ is 27 cm wide and 45.7 cm high, equivalent to approximately 10.6 × 18.0 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.59:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.12 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 9.0% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 136.5 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Diptych with the Passion of Christ in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, tempera and gold on wood oak, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 27 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?