Georges Rouault (1871 – 1958) was a French artist and contemporary of the Expressionist and Fauvist movements. In this work the painter explores the power of symbolism and colour.  
 
Rouault has said, “For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh.” Born in Paris, he studied under the famed Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, who became an important influential mentor. He later became a devout Roman Catholic while going through an emotional breakdown. He is widely collected in many esteemed museums.  
 
In the late 1920s Rouault discovered impasto painting, a technique of applying paint in thick layers, which became one of his signature styles. His work shows high moral and holy qualities from use of brush stroke and color. He concentrated on religious subjects, which he interpreted in an icon-like austerity, using intensively brilliant colors reminiscent of medieval stained-glass windows. Such is apparent in Rouault’s Christ Crucified. 

His Holiness, Pope Paul VI presented the painting to the United Nations on 4 October 1965 at a small reception in Secretary-General U Thant's office. Along with the painting, a diamond cross and ring were also given as a gift to the United Nations at the same event.