The Crucifixion

This Crucifixion (c. 1320) by Pseudo Jacopino di Francesco represents the Bolognese school of Gothic painting, which developed its own distinctive character under the dual influence of Byzantine miniature painting and Giotto's innovations. The anonymous master, named after a confusion with the documented painter Jacopino di Francesco, produced emotionally charged religious works for churches in the Emilia-Romagna region. The panel, now in the Musée du Petit Palais in Avignon, testifies to the widespread circulation of Italian Trecento paintings.

Executed in egg tempera and gold leaf on panel, the Crucifixion displays the Bolognese school's characteristic blend of expressive linearity and vivid coloring. The mourning figures are arranged in rhythmic groupings with dramatic gestures of grief, while the elongated corpus of Christ shows the refined anatomical modeling typical of this school.