Descent from the Cross

Jean Goujon

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Against a distant view of Jerusalem, Christ’s body is lowered into the arms of Saint John the Evangelist under the anguished gaze of Mary Magdalen, who kneels at the foot of the cross. On the left, one of the other Maries supports the swooning Virgin. Although the composition was based on an engraving by the Bolognese printmaker Marcantonio Raimondi (ca. 1480–before 1534), the figures’ thin draperies, elongated silhouettes, and Grecian profiles reflect the influence of the court artist Jean Goujon.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art