The Green Christ (in French: Le Christ vert) is an oil on canvas painting executed by Paul Gauguin November 20,1889 in Pont-Aven, Brittany.[1] The size of the work is 92 cm by 73 cm. It depicts a Breton woman at the foot of a calvary, or green-tinted sculpture of Christ's crucifixion. This image emphasizes both Breton culture and religious symbolism.
The calvery at Névez, which inspired the cross in The Green Christ
By 1889, Impressionism had dominated French art. The Green Christ challenges this tradition through Synthetism, Paul Gauguin’s distinctive Post-Impressionist style that blends natural forms with the artist’s inner feelings.[2] Gauguin expresses this through the painting’s color, symbolism, and setting. Gauguin created this work while living in Pont-Aven, Brittany, which reflects a region largely untouched by industrialization.[3] Topographically, the site depicted is the Atlantic coast at Le Pouldu. But the calvary depicted is an amalgam of several calvaries from different places; the cross is based upon that in the centre of Névez, a community close to Pont-Aven, located several miles from the coast, and the figure of Christ is based upon the calvarie at Briec, also at some distance from the sea.[4][5][6] The Breton people, known for their strong Catholic faith and adherence to traditional customs, inspired Gauguin’s portrayal of their authentic spirituality in The Green Christ.
Composition & style
The Green Christ depicts a Breton woman kneeling at the foot of a green crucifix. However, there is also an interpretation that she appears to be hiding from a pair of figures in the distant background; the green Christ providing her cover from these people. This woman wears traditional, modest Breton clothing and holds a black lamb in her left hand.[1] The statue of Christ, shown after the crucifixion, has an elongated, motionless body supported by the three Marys, whose expressions are somber.[4] Gauguin uses non-naturalistic color, painting Christ in green tones that blend with the surrounding landscape.[2] The composition features components of Cloisonnism with vibrant, flattened areas of color and boldly outlined forms, reflecting the influence of Japanese woodblock prints.[7] Both the figures and background carry equal visual weight, creating a balanced yet symbolic arrangement. Executed in oil on canvas, the work has smooth surfaces with minimal visible brushstrokes, emphasizing decorative design and emotional expression rather than naturalistic detail.[2]
Paul Gauguin,The Yellow Christ, 1886.
Interpretation & symbolism
The Green Christ exemplifies Gauguin’s Synthetist style, which aimed to unite natural forms with the artist’s emotional and spiritual response. Together with The Yellow Christ, it is considered to be one of the key-works of Symbolism in painting. The use of green to depict Christ’s body transforms a traditional Christian image into a symbolic one, interconnecting ideas of divinity, nature, decay, and suffering.[4] The composition’s balanced visual weight and the portrayal of Christ as a stone figure emphasize a sense of unity between humanity, faith, and the natural world.[1] Rather than striving for realism, Gauguin presents Christ’s body as an expression of spiritual and emotional meaning.[8] The inclusion of the black lamb adds another layer of symbolism, often interpreted as a reference to death and the mystery of resurrection.[3] By combining local religious motifs with symbolic elements, the painting explores the relationship between faith, nature, and human experience.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
