Design for the Base of the Silver Crucifix for the High Altar of Saint Peter's, Rome, Italy
Medium
metalwork
Classification
metalwork
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Museum purchase through gift of various donors and from Eleanor G. Hewitt Fund
Accession Number
1938-88-6982
About this artwork
Drawing in three registers. Upper register, garlands are suspended from a large mask which is flanked by open scrolls; central register, two male nudes (slave figures in the style of Michelangelo) rest neatly within each curving concave side of the base flanking a framed central oval medallion; lower register, volutes and lion paws with the Farnese crest at center. The left half of the sheet is more finished. Verso: Figures in a tondo. Left foreground, the Madonna is shown seated supporting the ...