The Green Christ is a painting executed by Paul Gauguin in autumn 1889 in Pont-Aven

Pont-Aven

Pont-Aven is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called in French Pontavenistes.-History:...

, Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

, France. Together with The Yellow Christ

The Yellow Christ

The Yellow Christ is a painting executed by Paul Gauguin in autumn 1889 in Pont-Aven. Together with The Green Christ, it is considered to be one of the key-works of Symbolism in painting....

, it is considered to be one of the key-works of Symbolism

Symbolism (arts)

Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...

 in painting. It depicts a Breton woman at the foot of a calvary

Calvary (sculpture)

A calvary is a type of monumental public crucifix, sometimes encased in an open shrine, most commonly found across northern France from Brittany east and through Belgium and equally familiar as wayside structures provided with minimal sheltering roofs in Italy and Spain...

, or sculpture of Christ's crucifixion. Calvaries are common in town squares in Brittany.

Topographically, the site depicted is the Atlantic coast at Le Pouldu

Clohars-Carnoët

Clohars-Carnoët is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-Population:Inhabitants of Clohars-Carnoët are called in French Cloharsiens.-References:** ;-External links:*...

. But the calvary depicted is miles away, on a square close to the church in the centre of Névez

Névez

Névez is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.Nevez means "new" in Breton. The name is thought to have arisen when Trégunc was split in two, creating a new parish.-Population:...

, a community close to Pont-Aven

Pont-Aven

Pont-Aven is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called in French Pontavenistes.-History:...

and several miles from the coast.