BBC The Private Life of a Masterpiece - The Descent from the Cross (2010)

In the series we will explore some of the world's most well known works of art through 'The Private Life of a Masterpiece', that introduces viewers to the extraordinary stories contained in the history of art. Episodes reveal the full and fascinating stories behind famous works, not just how they came to be created, but also how they influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world.
In this episode we will study Rogier van der Weyden - The Descent From The Cross (c. 1435)
Six hundred years ago, one painting in northern Europe was prized above all others. Queens and kings wanted to own it. Other and lesser painters endlessly copied it. Anyone who saw it was struck with awe. The painting was huge and overwhelming - the Descent from the Cross. The painter was a Flemish master, Rogier van der Weyden. He succeeded in this painting in doing something that no one before him and many after him could not do: he painted real human emotion.
Today it is one of the greatest masterpieces in Spain's National Gallery, the Prado, in Madrid. It was taken there by Philip II of Spain and survived great adventures - almost lost at sea, almost destroyed by German bombers in the Spanish Civil War. Recently Google Earth went inside a gallery for the first time - they chose the Prado and then the Descent from the Cross. Only today can the highest resolution digital cameras capture the amazing attention to detail of van der Weyden's paintbrush. This Private Life tells the remarkable story of this painting.