Search | Sitemap | My Museum | Font Size

European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection

Crucifix

Made in Italy, Europe

c. 1285

Master of Montelabate, Italian (active Umbria), documented 1285; active 1280-90

Tempera on panel
74 x 68 1/4 inches (188 x 173.3 cm)

* Gallery 201, European Art 1100-1500, second floor (Lila Wallace--Reader´s Digest Fund Gallery)

W1952-1-1

Purchased with the W. P. Wilstach Fund, 1952

Label

In the 1200s, the Franciscans popularized the use of large, painted crucifixes like this one, which were often mounted on rood screens that divided the nave from the sanctuary of a church. Though the dying Christ's figure follows the model of a famous crucifix then in the Franciscan's principal church in Assisi, this painting was not made for a Franciscan church, but probably for the church of a nearby monastery of another religious order. At Christ's feet kneels the donor who ordered the painting. He does not wear a Franciscan friar's simple tunic, but the rich robes of an abbot.

Social Tags [?]

christianity [x]   cross [x]   crucifixion [x]   jesus [x]   medieval [x]   tempera [x]  

[Add Your Own Tags]

Provenance

With Salvatore Romano, Florence; sold to PMA, 1952.


* Works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit.