This grouping
presents an interesting essay in mixed media and even mixed styles. The
figures of Mary and John are at the summit of the retablo. The three
crucified figures are above and behind them in a different style, with
the thieves' bodies contorted as if in imitation of late German
crucifixion paintings. (See for example the crucifixions of Maerten
van Heemskerck and of Lucas
Cranach the Elder. Finally, the scene is given a frescoed cityscape
for a background, comparable to that of a Crucifixion group at the nearby
Huelgas monastery. Also remarkable is the grim incongruity of retablo's ornate peaked summit and
fleshy angels with the simple gray skull, itself a reference not only to death
but to the literal translation of the name Golgotha of the hill where
the crucifixion took place.
More of the crucifixion