By Anne Leader
Today (25 March 2016) is Good Friday, the anniversary of Jesus’ death on the cross. After the Virgin and Child, the Crucifixion is the most common subject of Christian art, and numerous examples can be found in Italian painting, sculpture, and manuscripts. Whether as part of an iconic Crucifix or the focus of a narrative, the image of Jesus on the cross has been repeatedly reinterpreted by Italian artists to remind Christian viewers of Jesus’ sacrifice to absolve them of their sins. Complementary images include the Agony in the Garden, the Deposition, the Lamentation, and the Entombment. The centurion Longinus who pierced Jesus’ side was immortalized by Gianlorenzo Bernini as one of four monumental sculptures created to decorate the crossing of New St. Peter’s in Rome.
Coppo di Marcovaldo, Crucifix, after 1261, tempera on panel, Pinacoteca Civica, San Gimignano
Early Christian woodcarver, Crucifixion, ca. 430, wood, Santa Sabina, Rome
Early Christian sculptor, Passion Sarcophagus, detail, ca. 430, marble, Lateran Museum, Rome
Altichiero, Crucifixion, 1376-9, fresco, Basilica di Sant’Antonio, Padua
Fra Angelico, Crucifixion with Mourners and Sts Dominic and Thomas Aquinas (Cell 37), 1441-2, fresco, San Marco, Florence
Andrea Mantegna, Agony in the Garden, ca. 1459, tempera on panel, National Gallery, London
Rosso Fiorentino, Deposition, 1521, oil on panel, Cathedral, Volterra
Giotto, Lamentation, 1305, fresco, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua
Raphael, Entombment, 1507, oil on panel, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Gianlorenzo Bernini, Longinus, 1631-8, marble, St. Peter’s, Rome