Golgotha

A prodigious talent, Lucas van Leyden took an original approach to storytelling in Golgotha. He inverted the action by placing the crucial event in back, and the more ordinary activities in front. His emphasis on humanity--a falconer and beggar share space with men gambling for Christ's garment--made the Crucifixion accessible, as did the contemporary dress. Yet the crowd's casualness is also disturbing. Lucas's approachable piety reflected the down-to-earth teachings of the Modern Devotion movement in the Netherlands, which called for daily dedication to the Passion.