Crucifix
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Authors
Donatello, circle of
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Crucifix , Christ , Jesus , Passion
Alternative Title
Abstract
This painted wood crucifix was likely a part of the rich gifts sent by the wealthy cleric, Roberto de Mabilia, from Padua to his native town of Montepeloso (now called Irsina) in Basilicata, where the crucifix still hangs. Also sent as a part of this donation, which was celebrated in a sixteenth-century poem, were a painting by Andrea Mantegna of St. Euphemia (now in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples), and a series of objects still housed in the same church, including a relic of St. Euphemia, a painted stone statue of the saint, and a painted stone sculpture of the Madonna and Child. The Mantegna painting is signed and dated 1454, and so this crucifix was likely made for the same donation at around the same time, ca. 1450. Some scholars have suggested, however, that this is not the crucifix mentioned as a part of the donation, but a later work, made in the seventeenth century. The crucifix, though, fits in terms of style with Paduan fifteenth-century art. In particular, in this period, the Florentine sculptor Donatello was working on his great bronze altarpiece for the Santo in Padua, including the bronze crucifix (1444-7). The torso, face, and arms of this crucifix are much thinner than Donatello's example, emphasizing the pathos and fragility of the suffering Christ. But the subtle shift of weight in the torso and especially the twisting muscular legs are particularly close to Donatello's work. Before this work was restored in 2002, it was hung with a seventeenth-century painting as a backdrop in one of the side chapels and was covered with heavy later repaint. Restoration removed that later repaint, revealing the original polychromed surface. Restorers also discovered that the statue had originally removable and repositionable arms and head, so that the sculpture could be placed in different positions. This was likely so that on Good Friday, the sculpture could be removed from the cross, and lamented over, then entombed, before being resurrected on Easter. So the sculpture was likely the central player in a passion play. Remains of the original hair, made of unspun hemp fibers, were used as a model to reconstruct the original appearance by adding new fibers, replacing those too fragile to have survived the repeated touch of devotees. The statue also has a panel covering a cavity in the chest, underneath the wound in the side, which is a slit carved in this panel. Likely this cavity was filled with a pig's bladder filled with blood, which could be pierced at a key moment to make the statue bleed, as is recorded for other crucifixes from this period. Other crucifixes in the period were reported to have bled and moved miraculously, but having such tricks to simulate bleeding was not generally considered vile fakery, but rather a legitimate way to use artistry to excite devotion, through vivid naturalism. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Description
Cathedral, Irsina (Montepeloso)
Citation
Clara Gelao, Andrea Mantegna scultore e la Sant'Eufemia di Montepeloso (Venice: Marsilio, 2013), 28.