Anton van Dyck (Antwerp, 1599 – London, 1641)
Dying Christ
oil on canvas,1627
The King’s Bed Chamber

This extraordinary work of tragic grandeur was bought by Charles Felix of Sardinia together with Carlo Andrea Gabaldoni’s collection of paintings in 1821 and entered the palace on Via Balbi in 1833. While we have as yet no information as to who commissioned the painting or its history prior to 1821, its attribution to the Flemish artist has never been challenged. On the contrary, some critics are convinced that this is the only autograph Crucifixion by Van Dyck to have survived out of those produced during his period in Italy and that it was therefore painted in the 1620s. Under the influence of Rubens, the painter from Antwerp offers a foreshortened view of Christ on the Cross, whose body is sculpted by the dazzling light concentrated on the abundant Baroque drapery. The power of the light and the contrast of light and shadow emphasize the desolate solitude and drama of Christ’s death to extraordinary effect.