Tablets of the Passion of Christ: Royal Chapel

Inside the Royal Chapel of Granada we find a sacristy-museum that houses important belongings of the Catholic Monarchs and paintings of great artistic value. So, today we explain the panels of the Passion of Christ in the Royal Chapel of Granada.

Would you like to know the symbolism and the most important elements of the panels of the Passion of Christ that we find in the Royal Chapel? Stay and read our article, we show you everything you need to know below!

Prayer in the Garden

In this work we can observe the Gospel scene narrated in the four Gospels. Thus, we see Christ praying apart from the other beloved apostles, who appear to be sleeping.

An angel appears to comfort Christ's anguish. Furthermore, there is no allusion to the night or to the arrival of Judas, characteristic elements in the Gospels.

In this way, a religious contemplation is conveyed of the mystery that the Son of God is about to confront with his passion and death. Meanwhile, his friends and disciples live this moment passively.

It is worth noting that this is one of the few works by Botticelli to be found in Spain.

Christ, Man of Sorrows

In this painting we can see the dead Christ, showing his wounds from the tomb. It invites us to contemplative prayer and suggests that his resurrection is anticipated.

There are no landscapes, only a dark background, creating an atmosphere of boundless solitude and imperturbable silence. All this makes the panel uniquely beautiful and highly emotive.

Ecce - Homo

The painting of the Ecce - Homo shows the bust of Christ from the front, crowned with thorns. His arms are crossed on his chest and his hands are tied.

It is a work that has been repainted several times and belongs to the Hispano-Flemish school.

Calvary

In this panel the Crucified Christ is accompanied by the Virgin, dressed in blue, and by Saint John, who wears a red tunic and cloak. It also features a broad, varied landscape with rocks, greenish meadows and architecture that is lost in the distance.

It can be seen that the Cross is planted in ochre soil and among eroded rocks with dry plants. This lifeless dryness becomes in the background an oasis of light and life that seems to be born from the arms of the Crucified One.

Crucifixion. The Thrust.

The painting depicts the Crucified Christ in the centre of the composition, surrounded by a large group of knights on either side.

On the left is a knight carrying the lance that wounds Christ, which is why he is traditionally called Longinus. Behind them are two men on horseback who seem to share the action.

On the right side there are 5 people: one also carries a lance, but the rest maintain an attitude of respect and pain for what they are seeing.

Due to the clothing, the style of the painting and the conception of the landscape, it is dated to the last years of the 15th century. It is also mentioned in the inventory of the Catholic Queen's possessions of 1505.

The Dying of the Virgin

This is a fairly common composition in Flemish painting. Here the Virgin is shown dressed in dark blue with a white veil, accompanied by Saint John, who is holding her.

Both in St John's hair and in the folding of the drapery, we see a painter concerned with the plasticity of volume. This is also shown in the bulging lips and eyelids of both protagonists.

The Virgin with the Christ of Pietà

Finally, in order to get to know all the panels of the Passion of Christ in the Royal Chapel, we could not forget to mention the Virgin with the Christ of the Pietà.

In the scene, Mary holds her Son, who shows all the sufferings of his Passion: the bleeding wounds caused by the crown of thorns, the wound in his side and the hole left in his hand by the nail.

The background has a golden yellow hue and the heads of the figures who took part in the Passion are depicted, along with some of the instruments that symbolise it.

Why visit the Royal Chapel of Granada?

As you have seen throughout this article on the panels of the Passion of Christ in the Royal Chapel of Granada, this monument conserves great jewels of the world of painting, some of which come from the will of Isabella the Catholic.

If you would like to visit this temple, do not hesitate to buy your tickets to the Royal Chapel of Granada on our official website of the Archdiocese of Granada.

Let yourself be amazed by the beauty of this site and enjoy all its rooms!