Crucifixion by the Romans. 1887 Vasily Vereshchagin (1842-1904)

One of the most important works by the great Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin, which appeared at auctions in the last century, Crucifixion on the Cross Among the Romans, is a work of paramount importance to the masters artistic style. It was rightfully recognized as such when it last appeared on the open market in 1891. On the evening of November 17, 1891, at exactly 8:00 PM, auctions began at the American Art Association in New York, where more than 110 works by the artist were presented. The next day, The New York Times wrote about the sale of the painting: The most expensive lot at the evening auction turned out to be a large canvas titled Crucifixion on the Cross Among the Romans – one of three paintings in a series that were sold separately. Known for his poignant depictions of deeply moving scenes, often to the point of painful realism, in which the nature of man and his behavior are tested, Vereshchagin depicted the death of the Savior at the hands of those he saved. The colossal scale and virtuosity of the painting express the culmination of his entire life philosophy – the eternal antithesis of human mortality, expressed in his famous work The Apotheosis of War.

One painting from the triptych on the theme of capital punishment, Crucifixion on the Cross Among the Romans (1887), was painted after the canvases Suppression of the Indian Uprising by the British and Execution of Conspirators in Russia. The cornerstone of this triptych, which the artist himself called an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, was the idea of accusing a hypocritical state that punishes people fighting for their beliefs – all against the backdrop of ubiquitous wars and rampant imperialism.

The painting Crucifixion on the Cross Among the Romans, along with other magnificent works, was exhibited in London in 1887, and later at the American Art Association in New York in November 1888, where Crucifixion was hung in the largest hall on the top floor next to two other works from this series. The exhibition of Vereshchagins works in New York lasted for two months and enjoyed incredible success. From New York, it moved to Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Boston. When the tour ended in 1891, the works returned to New York City, where the entire collection of 110 canvases was sold for $84,300. In 1899, the work was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and was provided by Mr. John W. Brown.

In any study of Vereshchagins work, written before or after the revolution, the triptych that the artist himself called an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, is considered one of the greatest achievements in his creative career. Undoubtedly, this is a unified project that required the artist to possess the greatest strength of imagination and determination. Vereshchagin first turned to the theme of crucifixion in 1869, four years before his trip to Palestine. The triptych itself was conceived in 1876, and Vereshchagin dreamed of completing it for more than ten years, until in 1887 he finished working on the final canvas Crucifixion on the Cross Among the Romans. The theme that unites all three works – the theme of brutal capital punishment practiced in three of the greatest and most extensive empires – Roman, British, and his native Russian – is expressed in the titles of the works. Each of the works symbolically illustrates the moment of the greatest ethical test that each of these powers underwent. In this painting, there is a condemnation of the ruthlessness of the state machine – and along with this, a touching depiction of the unchanging love for man, which unites people in all geographical spaces throughout time.

In response to criticism of the triptych from both English and Russian critics, the artist replied: They will be appreciated in a hundred years – the paintings will live. More than a century later, Vereshchagins prediction came true, and the fact that the whereabouts of one of the paintings are currently unknown only confirms that the appearance at auction of Vereshchagins masterpiece Crucifixion on the Cross Among the Romans is truly an outstanding event in auction history.