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Christ on the Straw, 1618, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen

NARRATOR: The two outer panels of this altarpiece were designed to be closed, like doors, over the precious central image – and opened, to spectacular effect. Here’s Nico van Hout, a curator at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.

NICO VAN HOUT: We are standing in front of a masterpiece of color. This is truly spectacular. You see Christ on the Straw, which is of course one of the most emotional religious paintings Rubens ever did.

NARRATOR: In the center, Christ’s dead body, taken down from the cross, is laid gently on a bed of straw by his mother, Mary, and his followers. To the left, the infant Christ seems to gaze across at his future self and his fate in a way which is almost unbearably poignant. And to the right is John the Evangelist, who will spread the word of Christ in his gospel.

The lifelike expressions and poses of the figures in Rubens’ paintings are due to extensive preparatory studies.

NICO VAN HOUT: In order to have a good amount of variety amongst them, he had to make head studies before, that could be introduced a little bit in every composition. So he used to depict one model seen from different sides - in profile, from underneath, from above, so that he could use those heads here and there where needed.