Crucifixion with the Two Thieves

1450–1500

Italy, Piedmont

Medium

pen and brown ink and black chalk

Support

Beige(1) laid paper partially prepared with red chalk wash

Measurements

Sheet: 24.4 x 19.4 cm (9 5/8 x 7 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Delia E. and L. E. Holden Funds and John L. Severance Fund 1956.43

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

In the left foreground Christ's grieving mother, Mary, is supported by two other women: Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas. This common grouping is often called the Three Marys.

Description

To make this drawing—which could be a ricordi (a visual record of a painting)—the artist first sketched part of the composition with charcoal before completing it with pen and ink. Charcoal was not regularly used as a drawing medium until the second half of the 1400s. Even then, it was usually a secondary medium, as seen here, meant to sketch or outline figures to be completed in other media. Charcoal and black chalk became more popular with later generations of artists, including Michelangelo, who found the supple qualities of the media ideal for rendering the human figure.