Crucifix with Scenes of the Passion
Unknown Artist
c. 1230–40
Medium
tempera with gold on panel
Dimensions
unframed: 185 × 160 × 10.2 cm · framed: 186.6 × 160.7 × 12.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1995.5
About this artwork
Large painted crucifixes dating from the 1100s and 1200s are among the earliest surviving Italian panel paintings. Large crosses, like this beautiful example, were typically suspended high above an altar in the main apse of Italian churches. Smaller crosses were placed on or just above altars in small side chapels. Such crosses served as the visual focus for devotion and symbolized the Eucharistic sacrament performed by the priest on the altar below. This crucifix shows Christ alive on the cross...