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The Crucifixion
Luca Signorelli·c. 1504/1505
Historical Context
Luca Signorelli's Crucifixion, painted around 1504-1505, depicts the central event of Christian salvation history with the powerful, muscular figural style that made Signorelli one of the most important precursors of Michelangelo. By this date, Signorelli had completed his monumental frescoes of the Last Judgment at Orvieto Cathedral, the most ambitious decorative program of the late fifteenth century. This panel demonstrates his continued mastery of dramatic religious subjects.
Technical Analysis
Signorelli's mixed technique of tempera, oil, and gilding creates a richly layered surface. The figure of Christ is rendered with the powerful anatomical modeling and energetic contour drawing that characterize his mature style, while the gilding maintains the traditional devotional aura of altarpiece painting.
Provenance
Possibly painted for the main of the church of Sant'Agostino, Matelica (Macerata).[1] Citernesi, Florence; purchased May 1883 by Sir John Charles Robinson [1824-1913], London;[2] sold February 1894 to Sir Francis Cook, 1st bt. [1817-1901], Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey; by inheritance to his son, Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd bt. [1844-1920], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd bt. [1868-1939], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th bt. [1907-1978], Doughty House, and Cothay Manor, Somerset; sold June or July 1947 to (Gualtiero Volterra, London) for (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence);[3] sold July 1948 to the Samuel H. Kress Collection, New York;[4] gift 1952 to NGA. [1] According to a convincing hypothesis first formulated dubitatively by Mario Salmi, "Chiosa Signorelliana," _Commentari_ 4 (1953): 114, and subsequently confirmed by Laurence B. Kanter, "The Late Works of Luca Signorelli and His Followers, 1498-1559," Ph.D. diss., New York University, Institute of Fine Arts, 1989: 131-136, and Laurence B. Kanter and David Franklin, "Some Passion Scenes by Luca Signorelli after 1500," _MittKIF_ 35 (1991): 171-192. At first Mario Salmi (_Luca Signorelli_, Novara, 1953: 59) suggested the possible provenance of the painting from a lost _Lamentation over the Dead Christ_ mentioned by Vasari (_Vite_, Milanesi edition, 3:686) as painted for a church at Monte Santa Maria. The scholar evidently abandoned this idea and it was not taken into consideration by others. [2] According to Robinson's account book (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; copy of relevant page in NGA curatorial files). See also Tancred Borenius, _A Catalogue of the Paintings at Doughty House, Richmond & Elsewhere in the Collection of Sir Frederick Cook Bt. I. Italian Schools_, London, 1913: 1:no. 53. [3] See copies of correspondence in NGA curatorial files, from the Cook Collection Archive in care of John Somerville, England. Volterra was Contini Bonacossi's agent in London. An expertise written in Italian (not in English, like those made for pictures already acquired by the Kress Foundation), dated April 1948 and signed by Longhi (copy in NGA curatorial files), was made in all probability for Contini Bonacossi, to whom Longhi was permanent advisor, shortly after the acquisition of the painting. [4] The Kress Foundation made an offer to Contini Bonacossi on 7 June 1948 for a group of twenty-eight paintings, including the Signorelli; the offer was accepted on 11 July 1948 (see copies of correspondence in NGA curatorial files, see also The Kress Collection Digital archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2117).
