The Mourning Saint John the Evangelist

This panel of the Mourning Saint John the Evangelist by the Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes, now in the National Gallery of Art, originally accompanied a monumental painted crucifix as one of the terminal figures. The Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes was an Umbrian painter active around 1260-1280 who specialized in the production of large painted crosses for Franciscan churches. The mourning figures of the Virgin and Saint John at the terminals of the cross personalized Christ's suffering and invited the viewer's empathetic participation.

Painted in egg tempera on gold-ground panel cut to the shape of a cross terminal, the figure of the grieving Saint John displays the expressive pathos characteristic of Franciscan devotional art. The master's style combines Byzantine facial conventions with a heightened emotional expressiveness visible in the tilted head and mourning gesture.