HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger
(b. 1497, Augsburg, d. 1543, London)

The Passion (detail)

1524-25
Oil on limewood, 39 x 31 cm (size of detail)
Kunstmuseum, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel

The picture shows a detail of the scene Via Crucis.

The background of the scene opens up as a broad landscape. The perspective effect of distance is achieved by traditional colourist means, with the foreground, centre ground, and background being clearly distinguished in brown, greenish, and blue tones respectively. Continuity is provided by a procession of riders and infantry, whose size diminishes steadily towards the background, taking the eye into the landscape.