The Crucifixion
The Crucifixion, Andrea Bonaiuti (Italian) c. 1360s
1916.776
Not on display
This picture was originally the right wing of a small altarpiece. The artist depicts dramatic expressions of grief. The Virgin turns from the sight of her crucified son; John the Evangelist gazes up in wonder; while Mary Magdalene, overwhelmed with loss, throws her arms around the base of the cross.
Andrea Bonaiuti was one of the leading artists in Florence and Siena following the epidemic known as the Black Death, which began in the 1340s. The Black Death killed without regard to class or age, decimating the population of large cities like Florence. Bonaiuit's works, like others created during that troubled time, possess a particularly emotional, spiritual atmosphere.
Images Copyright © the artist, their estate, and/or the Cleveland Museum of Art.
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