El Greco, Crucifixion (ca. 1600-1605), Prado Madrid (312 x 169 cm)

In all likelihood commissioned by the Jesuits in Toledo, the painting shows the Crucifixion in a typically Baroque manner. In marked contrast to the Christ in Grünewald's renowned altar of Isenheim, who is depicted suffering excruciating pain, El Greco transforms Christ's agony into an erotic sacrifice of love. The elongated body, contrasting in its whiteness with the gloomily dark background, is free from any contusions, and the scanty loincloth barely covers the Redeemer's genitals. By showing the blood incessantly gushing from his wounds, the collection of this blood by angels and Mary Magdalene, Christ's affection for man is denoted in highly erotic terms.