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Jesus is Crucified

Crucifixion, 1822
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, French (1758-1823)
Oil on canvas
Musee du Louvre, Paris

Prud’hon was a little-known portrait artist and historical painter.  He went to Rome at the age of 26 and formed his artistic style after the works of Leonard da Vinci.  He was described by contemporaries as having a neurotic personality, and the suicide of his longtime pupil and lover Constance Mayer in 1821 left him in shock, almost completely unable to paint.  He died two years later.