At the Foot of the Cross 1939

Maurice Denis created this print, “At the Foot of the Cross,” sometime around 1900. It depicts a biblical scene using the formal language of the French Symbolist movement. Denis was deeply religious, and also committed to modern art. Here, we see his attempt to reconcile the traditional subject matter of faith with the flattened space and simplified forms of artists like Gauguin. This was a period when the institutions of the church were under threat from secularization and modern science. In France, there was a desire among some artists to renew religious art, while remaining committed to modernism. To understand this image better, we might research the state of the Catholic church at the turn of the century, as well as writings by Denis on the role of art in modern life. This artwork shows us that meaning emerges when we understand the artistic, religious, and social contexts in which it was made.