The Crucifixion

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The Crucifixion

Artist Jacobello del Fiore (Italian (Venice), 1375-1439)

Place of OriginVenice, Italy

Dateabout 1395-1400

Dimensions54 × 57 5/8 × 3 5/8 in. (137.2 × 146.4 × 9.2 cm)

Mediumtempera and gold on wood panel

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, by exchange

Object number

2008.170

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 19

Label TextIn this Venetian gold-ground painting of the Crucifixion, Christ, larger in scale than the other figures, looms alone in the center of the composition. His body is the pictorial equivalent of the wafer that becomes the Body of Christ during Holy Communion (the painting probably originally was part of an altarpiece, displayed on or behind a church altar). On Christ’s right, Mary Magdalene kneels at the foot of the cross, while St. John the Evangelist stands to her left. Behind them, the Virgin Mary swoons in grief. On horseback, the Roman soldier Longinus holds his hands together in prayer of recognition. On Christ’s left are figures who did not recognize his divinity. Stephaton, standing beside the cross, cruelly offers Christ a vinegar-soaked sponge to quench his thirst. Seated on a white horse and gesturing with a mace, the Roman centurion orders his soldiers to break Christ’s legs (Christ died before the order was carried out). At the lower right two soldiers cast dice for Christ’s robe. The chromatic richness of Jacobello del Fiore’s coloring—reds paired with oranges, pinks with lavenders, pale greens with light blues—foreshadows the accomplishments of the later Venetian Renaissance (see Gallery 22).Published ReferencesArslan, E., 'Una tavola di Altichiero e un affresco di Turone,' Commentari, XI, 1960, pp. 103-106, fig. XXXI (as Altichiero da Zevio).

Pettenella, P., Altichiero e la pittura veronese del Trecento, Verona, 1961, p. 56, pl. 17 (as Anon. Veronese artist act. 1350s, hence, prior to activity of Altichiero da Zevio).

Pallucchini, R., La pittura veneziana del Trecento, Rome, 1964, p. 149 (1964 exh., Milan, as Altichiero da Zevio; 1986 exh., Milan, as "Pseudo-Altichiero").

Di Marchi, A., 'Per un Riesame della pittura tardogotica a Venezia: Nicolò di Pietro e il suo contesto adriatico,' in Bollettino d'arte, 44-45, 1987, pp. 25-66 (discussed p. 31 and notes 26ff. Fig. 6 - as "Maestro della Madonna Giovanelli").

Lucco, M., 'Jacobello del Fiore' in Antichi Maestri Pittori. Pittori Padani e Toscani tra Quattro e Cinquecento, Vicenza, 1988, n. 2 (perhaps the group should be given to Jacobello's father, Francesco del Fiore).

Chiappini di Sorio, I., 'Appunti per la storia dell'arte veneta. Jacobello ed Ercole del Fiore,' Arte e Documento, 3, 1989, pp. 68-70 (independent of Lucco 1988, suggests the group should be given to Jacobello's father, Francesco del Fiore).

Lucco, M., ed., 'Venezia 1400-1430,' in La Pittura nel Veneto. Il Quattrocento, I, Milan 1989, pp. 13-48, color ill. p. 17.

Benati, D., Jacopo Avanzi nel Rinnovamento della pittura padana del secondo '300, Bologna, 1992, pp. 115-120 (as "Pseudo-[Jacopo] Avanzi," either Bolognese or Venetian).

De Marchi, A., 'Ritorno a Niccolo di Pietro,' Nuovi Studi, II, 1997, 3, pp. 5-24 (concurs with Lucco 1988 and Chiappini Di Sorio 1989 that the group should be given to Jacobello's father, Francesco del Fiore, whom he had heretofore called "Maestro della Madonna Giovanelli." Cites also by this hand a Crucifixion in French pr. coll. [Benati 2007, p. 18, fig. 16]).

Benati, D., Jacobello del Fiore, A Crucifixion and a Reconstruction of His Early Career, London, Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd, 2007.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 117, repr. (col.).

Exhibition HistoryMilan, Galeria Levi, Maestri dell pittura dal '300 al' 700, catalogue edited by Mia Chinotti, 1964. - as Altichiero

Milan, Gallerie Salamon Augustoni Algranti, Mostra di 36 dipinti di antichi maestri, May-June 1986, nr. 1 (as "Pseudo-Altichiero").