Christ on the Cross 1520

Albrecht Altdorfer painted this “Christ on the Cross” panel in Germany sometime in the early Sixteenth Century. Here, we see the crucifixion taking place not in a holy land, but in a local landscape. In the background is what looks like a regiment of Landsknechte. These were mercenary soldiers who were known for their brutality and lack of religious piety, and are portrayed in the garb of Altdorfer’s time. What does it mean to show them witnessing the crucifixion? It is possible that this painting is commenting on the relationship between religious institutions and the military industrial complex of its time. During the 16th Century, the Catholic church was one of the largest patrons of the Landsknechte. As historians, to understand this painting better, we might research the political and economic history of the Holy Roman Empire to get a better sense of the social world in which Altdorfer created this painting.