Crucifixion with Donors and Saints

Although workshops were smaller and their output more limited at the beginning of the 16th century than earlier, there was at least one painter or shop in almost every northern town in the Low Countries. In Amsterdam a rather conservative shop was run by Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, and then by his son Dirck Jacobsz (c. 1497-1567).

On this memorial painting, executed by the Oostsanen workshop, the donors kneel before the Virgin Mary with the crucified Christ on her lap. They are accompanied by patron saints: on the left St Andrew, identifiable by the St Andrew's cross, and on the right St Christopher with his staff and the infant Christ on his shoulder.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 22 minutes): Heinrich Schütz: Die sieben Worte am Kreuz SWV 478