Christus aan het kruis 1629

Christoffel van Sichem II created this small woodcut depicting the crucifixion, sometime before his death in 1658. Woodcut is a relief printing process, meaning the artist carves away the areas that will not receive ink, leaving the design raised on the surface of the woodblock. The block is then inked and pressed onto paper. It’s a relatively accessible technique, yet capable of great detail, as you can see here in the rendering of Christ's body and the surrounding figures. The stark contrast between black and white gives the image a dramatic quality, emphasizing the emotional weight of the scene. Though a print, the intense labor involved in hand-carving the block connects it to the world of craft. Prints like this one played a vital role in disseminating religious imagery in the early modern period. Produced in multiples, it made art accessible to a wider audience, blurring the lines between devotion, artistic expression, and commerce. Sichem's woodcut, therefore, is not just a work of art, but a testament to the power of reproducible images in shaping cultural and religious identities.