Nine straining men heave upright the cross to which Christ is already nailed, a great diagonal of muscle and effort that spills onto both wings. Rubens painted the triptych for the high altar of St Walburga's church in Antwerp soon after returning from Italy. It brought large-scale Baroque painting to Flanders and made his name.
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In the left wing, St John quietly holds the Virgin's hands while the women below recoil in horror. A panting dog bursts into the lower left corner of the centre panel.
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