“The Descent from the Cross” and Roman Crucifixion Practice

Abstract While various aspects of crucifixion have been surveyed the last decades, there is a remarkable silence about the descent from the cross. In art we see various approaches to the taking down of a crucified individual (the best-known of which is “The Descent from the Cross,” one of the stations of the cross), but where do we find ancient sources on individuals being taken down from a cross? In this article, the author wants to point out that we know very little about this aspect of crucifixion. Often individuals were left to rot on the cross, but for ancient Jews it was common to bury them, based on Deuteronomistic law. The few Jewish, Greek, and Latin sources we have seldom give more information about how an individual was taken down than that someone was taken down. In effect, this article shows that we know very little about the subject.