Nailing Jesus Christ to the Cross 

Basic Info

None of the Passion accounts says that Jesus was nailed to the cross. The only reference to Jesus’ being nailed to the cross is when the Gospel of John quotes the Apostle Thomas referring to the nail holes in Jesus’ hands when he is challenging the other Apostles about whether Jesus was actually resurrected (20:25). That was enough for artists throughout Christian history. Artworks showing Jesus’ being nailed to the cross offered artists another opportunity to depict the vicious punishment wrought on Jesus.

Usually in these images, the cross is depicted lying on the ground and soldiers or workmen are beating nails into his hands or feet. Sometimes the images also depict rope around Jesus’ wrists while the nailing is occurring.

These images are often simply about Jesus Christ’s suffering. Sometimes there is also a point about who inflicted the suffering on him.

What to Look For

• The realism of the nailing process
• Jesus’ physical appearance
• Jesus’ reaction to the nailing
• The appearance of the nailers
• The emotional state of those nailing
• Whether others are watching
• The emotional response of the others
• To identify the “other people” see the section on groups

Questions to Focus a General Interpretation

Does the artwork focus on Jesus’ suffering or on the brutality of those who drove the nails?

Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation

Art has the power to bring home to the viewer a visceral quality of events that words are sometimes not able to capture. Does this artwork get through to your gut about the pain and horror of what Jesus Christ suffered?

Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation

Might the attitude of the artist’s day toward Romans, soldiers, or Jews be in evidence in the artist’s depiction of those who drove the nails? Based on the artwork, what would you think that attitude was in the artist’s time and place?