The face of a man hanging from a cross is right before us, a man who knows death will soon come. Although He is feeling a great pain, He shows a great dignity: His eyes are open to express the full consciousness with which He is living his final moment. Jesus’ eyes look above, knowing He is nothing but the instrument of a mission, His nakedness mirrors the light and gives his face a supernatural illumination.

Besides, His face is the face of a lonely man, who knows He cannot be replaced. Solitude becomes more painful if we pay attention to the face details in the context of the whole composition. Under the cross there are only two women, Mary, His mother, and Mary Magdalene.

The author seems to draw the attention of the viewer to the uniqueness of that moment: the son of God, God himself, is in total impotence and poverty. The cause of that situation has been human wickedness but also the freedom of choice of a man who accepted to become “lamb of God” for the world salvation.

We praise your pure image, o good God, begging you to forgive our faults, Lord Jesus Christ. In fact you have let your body rise on the cross to set those you had created free from the enemy (from Byzantine liturgy).