The Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John

This painting was painted in Utrecht, most likely for a clandestine or "hidden" Catholic church. Its style recalls religious paintings and prints dating from the previous century, and has inspired comparisons with works by Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald, and Utrecht's own Jan van Scorel. In the painting older forms are combined with everyday figure types and passages of naturalistic description. Terbrugghen's apparent goal in this scene was to recapture the expressive power of Late Gothic and Early Renaissance devotional images, which are often remarkable for their tragic character.