Christ Crucified (Velázquez)

Iconography[edit]

Velázquez followed the accepted iconography in the 17th century. His master, Francisco Pacheco, a supporter of classicist painting, painted the crucified Christ using the same iconography later adopted by Velázquez: four nails, feet together and supported against a little wooden brace, in a classic contrapposto posture.^[1] This became a model and great influence for various artists: Velazquez, Zurbarán and Alonso Cano.^[1] Unlike other traditional crucifixion interpretations outside of the Spanish tradition, Velazquez's work represents two parallel feet both punctured by nails.^[1] Jesus's feet are traditionally pierced with one nail, one foot over the other.^[2]


Pacheco's claim of Christ having four nails instead of three and his independent studies of the events of the crucifixion created great controversy .^[1] Pacheco and his colleagues, many of whom were Jesuits, developed analysis involving resources from contemporary writers, church fathers, and medieval mystics from the Italian and Spanish orthodoxies, supporting the idea that Jesus was crucified with a nail in each foot. Many argued Pacheco's work and influence may have created a distance from biblical evidence and his personal ideas.^[1]