Crocifisso

1948

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

The abstracted crucifixion evokes the malleability of flesh through the plasticity of clay. The body of Christ disintegrates in the pressings and moldings made by the artist’s fingers, and its materiality is countered by the shifting, shimmering colors of reflective enameled surfaces. The distinction between the body and the cross is dissolved. Fontana’s figures hover ambiguously between palpable flesh and reflected ethereal light—an expression of literal and spiritual transfiguration, and of Christ’s dual nature as God and man.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Crocifisso
Artist: Lucio Fontana (Italian, 1899–1968)
Date: 1948
Medium: Ceramics, polychrome
Dimensions: 16 9/16 × 10 5/8 × 4 1/2 in., 22 lb. (42 × 27 × 11.5 cm, 10 kg)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Courtesy Karsten Greve, St. Moritz
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art