The Elevation of the Cross (Rubens)

25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

John 19:25

The two women depicted here likely depict the Madonna and Mary's sister. Both look concerned, and looking at both Christ, and the text on the Cross. Both women are referenced to in John 19:25 making this depiction accurate to the source text. Although in John 19:26-28, the two are comforted by Jesus. Perhaps this painting depicts the two before Jesus says "Woman, here is your son, Here is your mother."

A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.

Luke 23:27-28

We can see that some women and children follow Jesus, and weep for him. This portion is directly representing Luke 23:27-28. Each woman has a different expression, two women look sorrowful, with one looking at the viewer, and the other looking down. The old woman looks in horror at the cross, and the last woman looks astonished while breastfeeding a child. The child being breastfed looks in disgust and horror at the cross, and the other child seeks comfort in the old woman. I believe this to be following the source text because though these emotions are not directly said of the woman in the text, it is reasonable to take these creative liberties.

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”

John 23:47

This soldier with the crested helmet could be representing the Roman Centurion who praised God after the crucifixion.

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

Luke 23:44-45

Here we see that there is an eclipse about to happen, Luke 23:44-45 states that after Christ was crucified, even though it was noon, the land was encompassed by darkness. Though it doesn't state if it was an eclipse, I believe this to be accurate to the source text

Mathhew 27:32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.Luke 23:26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

Mathhew and Luke

According to both Matthew and Luke, Jesus was only carried by Simon, not multiple men. This does not follow the source text. I believe they had this many muscular men carrying Jesus to show the weight of humanity's sin which Jesus carried.

I could not find evidence or any source text relating to a dog in the crucifixion. This could be a creative interpretation of the story.I believe a dog could represent the loyalty of his followers or Jesus’s devotion to humanity. Psalms 22:16 uses dogs in a negative connotation, so it could reference Jesus’s humiliation during the crucifixion, or perhaps represent the Romans being a “a pack of villains” Psalms 22:16

Dog

Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.

John(19:20)

Here, Jesus's cross is depicted in three languages: Aramaic, Greek, and Latin, stating, "Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews."This correlates with John 19:20, but not with Luke 23 and Matthew 27 which makes no note on the languages which the sign was written in. The difference between these texts is that in John and Matthew, it states,John 19 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his headMatthew 27 twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his headBut Luke makes no note on a crown of thornsRuben here is using the symbolism of the crown of thorns, which showed Jesus as both a king and the Roman soldiers turning it into a mockery. This is accurate to the source text, and it shows that Ruben here is using the Gospel of John as his source.