Passion (Greverade) Altarpiece (left wing) 1491

Curator: This is the left wing of Hans Memling’s Passion (Greverade) Altarpiece, painted around 1491. It’s an oil painting, quite typical of the Northern Renaissance style that focused on realism. Editor: The first thing that strikes me is how densely populated it is! A swirling mass of bodies set against that almost theatrical cityscape. The dog running loose near the bottom is a sweet, innocent detail. Curator: Considering its purpose as a devotional object, the sheer number of figures is key. The painting aims to depict not just the event of Christ carrying the cross, but to include the breadth of society—various classes, roles, their relationship to religious power... Look closely and you'll spot figures who represent local politics in Lübeck, Germany, at the time it was commissioned. Editor: That’s interesting. The artist also creates layers, almost a blurring of background and foreground. Even the faces are wonderfully specific, and, dare I say, ugly? Which somehow brings me closer to its humanity. This isn't idealized beauty; this is pain. Curator: Precisely. Memling was working within a well-established tradition of panel painting, and, here, there is close attention paid to rendering details of fabrics and the play of light and shadow. Also note the linear perspective that draws our eyes deeper into the architectural details in the painting. That type of precision requires time and skilled labor of the artist and their workshop, of course. Editor: And yet, while being so detailed, he never loses the emotional narrative. The strain on Jesus’s face, the taunting expressions around him. I wonder about the individual artisans working on the background compared to the face of Christ himself... that divide in labor. Curator: The labor division allowed for an economy of production, to quickly get through a lot of work, without depending on any one "genius". Editor: True, but as a standalone panel, apart from the whole altarpiece, the individual stories really pop out now. Thanks to Memling's craft and also maybe a little due to time, the scene pulsates with human suffering in a surprisingly powerful way. Curator: And through meticulous craftmanship and historical symbolism, the panel serves as a historical artefact and mirror reflecting power dynamics present even today.