Pablo Picasso, “The Crucifixion”, Oil on Canvas, 1930, Musee Picasso, Paris
In this work, Picasso returns to his fascination with the ‘life in death’ paradox, encapsulated perfectly by the Western world’s foremost symbol: the Crucifixion. The whole notion of rebirth and transformation has fascinated artists for centuries, as they see themselves as actively participating in an alchemical process while recreating life in their chosen medium.
“The Crucifixion” has no particular religious significance, although its interpretation of pain and suffering is intensely captured and it is a fascinating forerunner, with the use of certain shapes and expressions, to Picasso’s most famous work, Guernica (1937).
Mithra is the orange and red solar figure to the right of the cross (to the viewer)…in between three Marias: the Holy Mother in white before Christ, Marie-Thérèse Walter in the middle and the blue, skeletal head of Mary Magdalene below Mithra. The head of Stephaton to the left with his giant moon-like sponge “doubles as a crescent moon, an emblem of Virgin Mary.”