Picture of the day

The Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John is an oil painting by the Dutch artist Hendrick ter Brugghen, probably painted around 1625 as an altarpiece for a Catholic clandestine church likely located in Utrecht in the Calvinist Dutch United Provinces. The scene is taken from the account of the crucifixion of Jesus in the Gospel of John, and depicts Jesus being mourned by his mother Mary and John the Apostle. At the base of the cross are bones, traditionally identified as those of Adam. The scene is set in an atmosphere of deep dusk with stars visible in the background. The painting was not known until it was discovered in a bombed-out church in South Hackney, London, in 1956. Initially unrecognized, it was identified before an appearance at Sotheby's later that year. It was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it now hangs.Painting credit: Hendrick ter Brugghen