Focus on this artwork and explain the History.
When the artist began the canvas he had been in Pont-Aven for two years. He produced the work just before leaving for Tahiti. The work is one of several on religious themes from the same period, making him (in Manuel Jover's words) the "original core of Symbolism in painting" – it also included The Yellow Christ and The Green Christ. Initially in the collection of Gauguin's friend Daniel de Monfreid (1856–1929), it had entered Ambroise Vollard's gallery by 1902. It was acquired by Maurice Denis in 1903.
Maurice Denis The Green Christ Manuel Jover Symbolism Tahiti Daniel de Monfreid The Yellow Christ Ambroise Vollard Pont-Aven