Christus Consolator by Carl Bloch: Open Arms, an Iron Cuff, and the Hörup Altarpiece (1875)
An iron cuff is still on the wrist of the man who has already reached him. In Carl Heinrich Bloch’s Christus Consolator — painted in 1875 for Hörups kyrka in Skåne and known in Danish as Kristus, trøsteren — Christ stands at the centre with arms open at shoulder height and looks straight out of the picture. The weary are already under those arms. The painting is an altarpiece on canvas, not one of the twenty-three oils on copper in the King’s Oratory at Frederiksborg, and it has done more work for the idea of a welcoming Christ than many larger Passion scenes. Quick facts Artist: Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834–1890), born in Copenhagen Date: 1875 Medium: Oil on canvas (altarpiece) Collection: Hörups kyrka, Skåne, Sweden Notable fact: Not part of the Frederiksborg copper cycle (1865–1879); Bloch painted eight altarpieces in all. A second Christus Consolator , 1884, is in Sofia Albertina Church, Landskrona Carl Heinrich Bloch, Christus Consolator (Kristus, trøsteren), 1875. Oil on ca...