Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff

Golgotha (Munkácsy)

Also known as: Golgotha, Golgota, le Christ en croix de Munkascy, Christ en croix de Munkacsy, Le Christ en croix

Culture · Art
Christ on the cross between the two thieves under a dark green storm sky, a crowd of Jews in rich robes at left, women weeping at the foot of the cross, a Roman soldier at lower right
Mihály Munkácsy, Golgotha (1884), oil on canvas, 712 × 460 cm, Déri Museum, Debrecen Déri Museum, Debrecen; public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (Munkácsy Foundation)

Overview

Golgotha (1884) is the second panel of the Christ trilogy by the Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy (1844-1900), after Christ before Pilate (1881-82) and before Ecce Homo (1896). Oil on canvas, about 712 × 460 cm (Wikimedia Commons record). The Paris dealer Charles Sedelmeyer had urged Munkácsy to paint large biblical canvases that could be exhibited on their own; the trilogy was toured across Europe and the United States. Golgotha was bought by the American store magnate John Wanamaker (Wanamaker's purchase date is given as 1887 in the Hungarian accounts), was sold at auction in 1988, and now hangs in the Déri Museum, Debrecen, Hungary, with the other two canvases. (Sources: Wikipedia, "Mihály Munkácsy"; Wikimedia Commons file record; Déri Museum / Hungarian press as summarised in a web search, 2026-10.)

The diary calls it "le Christ en croix" and never "Golgotha".

Marie and this work

1884-01-29 (103.0172-0177, Paris): Marie goes "voir le Christ en croix de Munkascy avec les Canrobert" (see Maréchale Canrobert) at the artist's house, which also holds Princess Mathilde and the young Vicomtesse Benedetti; the Maréchale does not present Marie to the princess, which stings. She describes the picture: "très grand. Le christ en croix entre les deux Larrons, beaucoup de monde autour, un ciel noir et les figures se détachant dessus en clair. Très jolie couleur... C'est peint très largement." She notes that it is "très admiré", the Jewish costumes "aux tons si beaux", but withholds judgement: "Ça ne m'a pas paru assez tragique... Ça l'est peut-être..." She calls the painter "ce grand (?) et heureux artiste".

The canvas was therefore shown at Munkácsy's own house in January 1884, shortly after completion; the diary does not say how long it was on view there. Marie's mixed verdict, with its question mark after "grand", sits against her reverence for Bastien-Lepage in the same weeks (see Portrait de Mme Drouet).

Sources

  • Wikipedia, "Mihály Munkácsy".
  • Wikimedia Commons, file record for "Munkácsy Golgota A.jpg" (Munkácsy Foundation; public domain, PD-old-100).
  • Diary: 103.0172, 103.0175, 103.0177.