The Crucifixion

Francesco Granacci (Francesco di Andrea di Marco)

ca. 1510 · Tempera and gold on wood · European Paintings

This richly detailed triptych was intended for private devotion; an old inventory label on the back indicates that it once belonged to the Stiozzi Ridolfi family. When closed, it could be easily transported. When opened, it offered three scenes for meditation relating to death, resurrection, and the Last Judgment; note how one of the resurrected figures in the Last Judgment looks directly at the viewer. Although the figure scale is inconsistent, the northern-inspired landscape is continuous in all three panels. The superscription at the top of the cross, reading “Jesus Christ King of the Jews,” is rendered in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin letters

Artist

Francesco Granacci (Francesco di Andrea di Marco)

Date

ca. 1510

Medium

Tempera and gold on wood

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of Nancy, Carolina, and Isabelle Richardson, and Purchase, Friends of European Paintings Gifts, 2006