6. Leave-Taking

The sixth film in the series focusing on one of Christianity’s central figures: The Virgin Mary.

It focuses on The Leave Taking and discusses Bernhard Strigel’s Christ Taking Leave of His Mother (c.1520) in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

Presented by VCS Director Professor Ben Quash and Deputy Director Dr Jennifer Sliwka.

Artwork: Bernhard Strigel, Christ Taking Leave of His Mother, c.1520, Fir wood, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Kat. Nr. 1197.

Part of the Series Unlocking Christian Art. Produced in partnership with the National Museums in Berlin, these short films tell the story of the Virgin Mary with the help of the treasures of the Bode-Museum and the Gemäldegalerie, both sculpture and painting. These films are designed to equip users to understand, read, and enjoy some of Europe’s greatest works of Christian art, as well as the texts that inspired them, and to encourage fresh interpretation and insight in today’s audiences.

Related Exhibitions

The Carrying of the Cross by Simone Martini
Second Station. Part of The Stations of the Cross / Lema Sabachthani (series) by Barnett Newman
Christ Carrying the Cross by Jan van Hemessen

Matthew 16:24–28; Mark 8:34–9:1; Luke 9:23–27
Forfeit and Gain

Abraham Caressing Isaac by Rembrandt van Rijn
Wooded Landscape with Abraham and Isaac by Jan Brueghel the Elder
Sacrifice of Isaac, from Commentary on the Pentateuch, part 2 by Joel ben Simeon

Genesis 22:1–5
The Journey to Moriah

Jesus is taken down from the Cross (Station of the Cross no. 13) by Engelbert Mveng
The Laufacher Pieta by The Laufacher Pieta
The Lamentation of Christ (Beweinung Christi) by Willem Key

Luke 2:34–35
A Sword Will Pierce Your Own Heart Also

More Bode-Museum & Gemäldegalerie Unlocking Christian Art: The Virgin Mary

1. The Virgin Mary: Introduction (9:27)
2. The Presentation & The Betrothal (7:11)
3. The Annunciation (4:19)
4. The Visitation (5:12)
5. The Adoration of the Christ Child (6:04)
7. The Virgin at the Foot of the Cross (7:28)
8. The Dormition / The Assumption (9:29)
9. The Queen of Heaven (7:04)
10. Immaculate Conception (5:15)
11. Holy Kinship (4:52)
12. Byzantine Types and their Legacy (5:42)
13. Virgin as ‘Ecclesia’ and Intercessor (8:02)