Images of the Crucifixion follow a common pattern, presenting Christ on the cross in the center, the mourning figures of mother Mary to the left, and Saint John the Evangelist to the right. This composition, though typical in composition, amplifies the sense of tragedy by the use of exaggerated gestures and bodily deformation. Christ's gaunt, elongated arms, sunken eyes, and shallow chest all emphisize the unspeakable physical abuse that he has endured. The anguished Saint John clasps his hands together in despair, his elbows raised almost to the level of his shoulders. The Mourning Virgin offers an interesting contrast to the figure of Saint John. She appears to be too exhausted by her ordeal for emphatic gestures; her arms are extended before her, but her hands hang almost limp. Her oversized eyes are full of sorrow as she looks upward, powerless to help her dying Son. In the lower half of the background, a town is visible in the distance, nestled among the hills.

The nest of birds atop Christ's cross is a symbolic reminder of the magnitude of His sacrifice. Just as Christ's blood was spilled to save humanity, the adult pelican pierces its breast to nourish its young with its own blood. While many elements here suggest Christ's humanity and the physical facts of His sacrifice. others remind us of His divinity. He is attended by two heavenly angels, and the sky behind him is a lavish gold, the color of kings.

The outline of every figure is incised, and so are the cross and the mountains. This shows where not to gild. There is underpainting visible---a couple dark lines in the drapery of St. John.

F.M. Perkins, Rassegna d'arte Volume XI, 1911, p. 4.
Umberto Gnoli, Pittori e minitori nell'Umbria (Argentieri Edizioni d'arte,1923), 215.
Bernard Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renasisance, 1932, p. 393.
Lionello Venturi, Italian paintings in America Volume II, 1933, plate 316.
Bernard Berenson, I Pitturi Italiani del Rinascimento, 1936 p. 337.
National Gallery of Art, Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture, 1941, p. 41.
Fern Rusk Shapley, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Paintings, Fifteenth to Sixteenth Century (Phaidon, 1968), 5 figure 2.

Attributed to Niccolo by L. Venturi, ..i, Perkins (first manner), Berenson (studio). date c. 1470 in Cat. NGA, 1941 on the basis of ..larity to Karlsruhe Crucifixion, signed and d 1468.

Egg tempera

Dan Fellows Platt Collection, Englewood, New Jersey as early as 1911. Acquired by the Kress Collection (K1284) 1939. Loaned by the Kress Foundation to the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. 1941-1952. Donated by the Kress Foundation to Pomona College in 1961.

A box of Xrays of the Kress Collection is on Shelf G in the Vault (6/5/2018).

This object has the following keywords:

• Angels
• Crucifixion
• Grief
• Jesus Christ
• Kress
• Mourning
• Saint John the Evangelist
• Virgin Mary

• Sight Dimensions: 41 1/2 x 23 7/8 in. (105.41 x 60.64 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen
• Frame Dimensions: 67 x 34 1/8 in. (170.18 x 86.68 cm) Measured by Hudson, Karen

This object is a member of the following portfolios: