''Christ Triumphant over Sin and Death'', also known as ''Christ Triumphant over Death and Sin'', or sometimes as ''

Salvator Mundi , Latin for Saviour of the World, is a subject in iconography depicting Christ with his right hand raised in Blessing (Roman Catholic Church), blessing and his left hand holding an Globus cruciger, orb (frequently surmounted by a cross), known a ...

'', is a circa 1618

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest ...

by the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

Baroque artist

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradit ...

. It is on display in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Strasbourg, France. Its inventory number is 235. The painting represents the

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory ...

victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

over

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

(depicted as a

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, t ...

) and

Sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, ...

(depicted as a

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

). It was formerly thought to have been painted around 1615, but more recent stylistic comparisons with similar Rubens works have indicated that it was more likely to have been painted slightly later, i.e. around 1618. The painting could have been commissioned for an altar in a private chapel; it was held in high esteem in the 18th century and is well document since 1745. It was bought for the museum by

Wilhelm von Bode Wilhelm von Bode (10 December 1845 – 1 March 1929) was a German art historian and museum curator. Born Arnold Wilhelm Bode in Calvörde, he was ennobled in 1913. He was the creator and first curator of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, now ca ...

in 1890 at a sale at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, t ...

, and entered the collections in 1891. Christ's head and right arm are painted in a smoother, softer texture than the rest of his body or indeed of the painting as a whole. While the work is accepted as a genuine Rubens, the customary participation of his workshop is not excluded.

References

External links

{{Authority control (arts) Paintings by Peter Paul Rubens Paintings in the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg 1610s paintings Skulls in art Snakes in art Paintings about death Paintings depicting Jesus Angels in art Oil paintings 17th-century allegorical paintings