Four Scenes from the Passion 1520

Bernard van Orley painted this small panel of the Passion in the early 16th century, probably in Brussels, using oil on wood. The panel is divided into four scenes from the Passion of Christ; the Agony in the Garden, Christ Carrying the Cross, the Crucifixion, and the Lamentation. Paintings like this were devotional aids in the intensely religious culture of the Low Countries. But they were also displays of wealth and status, meant to signal the patron’s place in a highly stratified society. The religious culture was enforced by powerful institutions, but social and political upheaval was on the horizon. Some artists and intellectuals were beginning to question the Church, while others were challenging social hierarchies. To better understand this work, we can look to sources that reveal the complex social and political context in which it was made. For instance, records of religious life, guild regulations, and the political climate of the region all help to illuminate the possible meanings this image held in its own time. Art history gives us the tools to decode visual and cultural meanings.