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The Crucifixion

possibly ca. 1440
Not on view
To the left of the Crucifixion are shown Saints Monica, her son Augustine, and Peter Martyr; to the right are Saints Dominic, Francis, and Elizabeth of Hungary. This damaged but poignant picture was painted in the 1440s, when Fra Angelico and his workshop were decorating the convent of San Marco in Florence with a cycle of frescoes financed by Cosimo de'Medici. The picture may well have been painted for Cosimo and is listed in a 1492 inventory of the Medici Palace. As in the San Marco frescoes, saints born hundreds of years after the Crucifixion are shown experiencing the event as an extension of their meditations.

The background is regilt.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Crucifixion
  • Artist: Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro) (Italian, Vicchio di Mugello ca. 1395–1455 Rome)
  • Date: possibly ca. 1440
  • Medium: Tempera transferred to canvas, laid down on wood, gold ground
  • Dimensions: 13 3/8 x 19 3/4 in. (34 x 50.2 cm); set in panel 15 3/4 x 21 1/4 in. (40 x 54 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
  • Object Number: 14.40.628
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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Justice, Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro) Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash (the blade of the sword in pen and darker brown ink)
Justice
Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro)
ca. 1440
Saint Alexander, Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro) Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
Saint Alexander
Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro)
ca. 1425
The Crucifixion, Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro) Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
The Crucifixion
Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro)
ca. 1420–23
Madonna and Child, Vincenzo Foppa Italian, Tempera, oil, and gold on wood
Madonna and Child
Vincenzo Foppa
ca. 1480
Madonna and Child Enthroned, Carlo Crivelli Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
Madonna and Child Enthroned
Carlo Crivelli
1472

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