Explore the Description of this artwork, The Crucifixion of Saint Wilgefortis.
The three panels of the triptych are made from oak.  The central round-topped panel measures 105 cm × 63 cm (41 in × 25 in) and depicts the crucifixion of a female saint before a crowd of spectators.  In a depiction related to Christ's crucifixion, the woman is in an elevated position against the sky, looking up to her salvation, balanced by a large crowd gathered at the foot of the cross, including executioners and common people, with the typical element of a fainting man supported by his neighbours.The crucified female figure was often identified as Saint Julia of Corsica, the Carthaginian slave of a Roman citizen Eusebius; she was reputedly crucified by a magistrate Felix for refusing to worship the pagan gods.  The painting was restored from 2013 to 2015 to include in an exhibition to mark the 500th anniversary of Bosch's death in 2016.  The restoration revealed the saint is bearded, reinforcing the identification as Saint Wilgefortis (also known as St Uncumber in England, or as St Liberata in Italy); she was a young woman who reputedly took a vow of virginity, and prayed to lose her beauty to avoid an unwanted marriage at her father's instigation to a Muslim king: the engagement was cancelled when she miraculously grew a beard, and her father had her crucified.The half-size side panels depict, to the left, a hermit with a dark hood (perhaps St. Anthony in Meditation) on a parapet before a city with people fleeing from a fire.  To the right, a monk and a soldier – traditionally identified as slave-dealers – point at the central panel, with a port in the background which has fanciful domed buildings and several sunken ships in the harbour.  X-rays and infrared reflectograms have revealed that each side panel originally included a portrait of a large kneeling man, but these donor portraits were painted over by Bosch.The painting is signed to lower left of the central panel "Jheronimus bosch" [sic].  The back has been cradled and any images on the back of the side panels, which would be visible when the doors were closed, have been lost.
right cradled crucifixion donor portrait Wilgefortis Julia of Corsica Saint Julia of Corsica Saint Wilgefortis triptych