Crucifixion (van Dyck) delta' symbolising the Holy Trinity. Crucifixion (van Dyck) The Crucifixion is an oil on canvas painting by Anthony van Dyck, produced around 1630. It is 2.51 m high. It was originally commissioned as the high altar-piece in the convent of the Récollets in Lille during van Dyck's second Antwerp period, between his return from Italy in 1627 and his departure for London in 1632. It returned to a theme he had already painted around 1617-19 during his first Antwerp period, when he was still a studio-assistant to Rubens - this was "Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary, St John and St
Anthony van Dyck same time the dominance of Rubens in the relatively small and declining city of Antwerp probably explains why, despite his periodic returns to the city, van Dyck spent most of his career abroad. In 1620, in Rubens's contract for the major commission for the ceiling of the Carolus Borromeuskerk, the Jesuit church at Antwerp (lost to fire in 1718), van Dyck is specified as one of the "discipelen" who was to execute the paintings to Rubens' designs. Unlike van Dyck, Rubens worked for most of the courts of Europe, but avoided exclusive attachment to any of them. In 1620, at