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The painting depicts the episode of the Descent from the Cross as related in the Gospel of Saint John. The body of the dead Christ is lowered to the ground, wrapped in an immaculate white shroud held by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. The former, wearing dark clothes, occupies the upper left corner of the composition. With his left arm he hangs from the ladder, which is presumably leaning against the cross, not visible in the image, while he holds the three nails that had fastened the crucified Christ to it. With his right hand concealed by the shroud, he supports Christ under his arm. Joseph of Arimathea, shown as a bald man with a long, thick grey beard and who occupies almost all the right half of the painting, bears the weight of the lower part of Christ's body. Dressed in a costly purplish-red mantle with fur trim at the neck and on the sleeves, he holds the shroud with his left hand while looking out of the pictorial space.

It should be noted that the positions of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are reversed in relation to the traditional iconography of this subject. Given that the former is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels and that Mark and Luke refer to him as an "honourable counsellor" to the Sanhedrim, he is generally given more importance than Nicodemus. For this reason he usually supports the upper part of Christ's body while Nicodemus holds his feet. Christ's body creates a descending diagonal and separates the upper part of the composition, which includes Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, from the lower part. The latter area includes a bust-length depiction of Saint John, his hands around the weeping Virgin's shoulders. She is presented frontally, wearing a blue tunic and with her hair covered by a heavy white veil, while Saint John, Christ's most beloved Apostle, wears his traditional red tunic and is seen in profile.

The painting depicts the episode of the Descent from the Cross as related in the Gospel of Saint John. The body of the dead Christ is lowered to the ground, wrapped in an immaculate white shroud held by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. The former, wearing dark clothes, occupies the upper left corner of the composition. With his left arm he hangs from the ladder, which is presumably leaning against the cross, not visible in the image, while he holds the three nails that had fastened the crucified Christ to it. With his right hand concealed by the shroud, he supports Christ under his arm. Joseph of Arimathea, shown as a bald man with a long, thick grey beard and who occupies almost all the right half of the painting, bears the weight of the lower part of Christ's body. Dressed in a costly purplish-red mantle with fur trim at the neck and on the sleeves, he holds the shroud with his left hand while looking out of the pictorial space.

It should be noted that the positions of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are reversed in relation to the traditional iconography of this subject. Given that the former is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels and that Mark and Luke refer to him as an "honourable counsellor" to the Sanhedrim, he is generally given more importance than Nicodemus. For this reason he usually supports the upper part of Christ's body while Nicodemus holds his feet. Christ's body creates a descending diagonal and separates the upper part of the composition, which includes Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, from the lower part. The latter area includes a bust-length depiction of Saint John, his hands around the weeping Virgin's shoulders. She is presented frontally, wearing a blue tunic and with her hair covered by a heavy white veil, while Saint John, Christ's most beloved Apostle, wears his traditional red tunic and is seen in profile. [Elodie De Zutter]

Selected bibliography

• Plasencia, Antonio. Catálogo de las obras de pintura y escultura del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Imprenta Provincial, 1932. p. 64, n° cat. 284. (Con el título El Descendimiento, y como Anónimo flamenco del siglo XV)
• Friedländer, Max J. Early netherlandish painting : Hugo van der Goes . New York ; Washington, Frederick A. Praeger, 1969. vol. IV, p. 84, lám. 93, n° cat. 101a.
• Lasterra, Crisanto de. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : catálogo descriptivo : sección de arte antiguo. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1969. pp. 31-32, n° cat. 69. (Con el título El descendimiento de la cruz, y como Copia de Colinj de Coter)
• Bermejo, Elisa. La pintura de los primitivos flamencos en España. Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Diego Velazquez, 1980. vol. I, p. 191, figs. 174-175.
• Castañer López, Xesqui. Pinturas y pintores flamencos, holandeses y alemanes en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Fundación Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa, 1995. pp. 29-31.
• Las tablas flamencas en la Ruta Jacobea [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Fundación Banco Santander Central Hispano, 1999. p. 132, fig. 92.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 24.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 24.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 24.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. p. 24, n° cat. 13.
• Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. p. 24, n° cat. 13.
• Diéguez Rodríguez, Ana. Precisiones al Catálogo de la Pintura Flamenca del siglo XVI en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [inédito]. 2013. pp. 215-219, n° cat. 35. (atribuido al Taller de Colyn de Coter)
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 24.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 24.
• Recuerdos artísticos de Bilbao. Bilbao, J. E. Baranda Icaza, 1919. s.p.
• De Zutter, Elodie. "Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoko Gurutzetik jaitsiera : Bruselako pinturaren adierazpen txiki bat = El Descendimiento de la cruz del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : un pequeño manifiesto de la pintura bruselense = The Descent from the Cross in the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : a small manifesto of Brussels School Painting", Buletina = Boletín = Bulletin, n° 10. 2016. pp. 67-98, 237-249.
• Manterola, Ismael [coord.]; Onaindia, Mikel [coord.]. "Bilbao 1919 : la Exposición Internacional de Pintura y Escultura = Bilbao 1919 : Nazioarteko Pintura eta Eskultura Erakusketa [Recurso electrónico]", Boletin 11 = Bulletina 11. 2019. p. 58.