Descent from the Cross

Pietro da Rimini was the leading painter of the Riminese school, a distinctive Gothic tradition in Emilia-Romagna deeply influenced by Giotto's work in nearby Padua. This Descent from the Cross, now in the Louvre, exemplifies the Riminese school's fusion of Giottesque volumetric figures with a heightened emotional intensity and expressive color. The subject of the Deposition was central to Franciscan devotional practice, which profoundly shaped Riminese art.

Painted in tempera on panel, the composition emphasizes dramatic gesture and emotional intensity. Pietro's figures show Giottesque solidity tempered by the Riminese preference for vivid, saturated colors and fluid, calligraphic drapery lines.