Jesus is Condemned to Die

Artist Damien Hirst (Bristol, England, born 1965)

PhotographerPhotographed by David Bailey (London, England, born 1938)

Date2004

MediumC-print on aluminium in artist-designed marbled frame

ClassificationsPhotography

Dimensions63.5 x 201 x 4.3cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 2005 with assistance from the National Collecting Scheme for Scotland and the National Art Collections Fund.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG014336

About MeThis is the first in a series of fourteen Stations of the Cross, iconic subjects that detail the final hours of Jesus Christ and that have fascinated artists for over a thousand years. The series was a collaborative project by the world famous artist Damien Hirst and the fashion photographer David Bailey in which Hirst continues his fascination with Christian iconography. He transforms these familiar scenes by placing them in a modern context, as did so many of his mediaeval and renaissance predecessors.

In this series Hirst has brilliantly incorporated his most recognisable imagery - here the stark form of a cow's skull stands in for the condemned Christ and his crown of thorns is transformed into a modern-day symbol of brutality: barbed wire. The figure wearing the skull holds aloft two shining knives, symbols of the inevitable crucifixion of Christ. That it is the Christ figure who holds the knives, rather than his persecutors, hints at the pre-ordained nature of the Crucifixion and at Christ's acceptance of his inevitable fate.

This is perhaps the least gruesome of the fourteen images yet in its bold and simple way it carries with great force the powerful and timeless message of the condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

For more information on how this work was acquired see http://www.ncsscotland.org.uk/collections