The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

The Crucifixion

1470s

Matteo di Giovanni

(Italian, c. 1435–1495)
Italy, Siena
tempera and oil with gold on wood panel
Framed: 39.4 x 38.1 x 4.5 cm (15 1/2 x 15 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 29.8 x 31 cm (11 3/4 x 12 3/16 in.)
Bequest of James Parmelee 1940.535
Location: 117A Italian Renaissance

Description

This small picture belonged to a predella, a series of subsidiary panels consisting of narrative scenes and situated at the bottom of an altarpiece. Predella paintings are significant because the artist was allowed more freedom and inventiveness here than in the higher part of the altarpiece. In this Crucifixion scene, the harmony of colors, the monumentality of the figures, and the symmetry of the composition all reflect the classical spirit of Renaissance Italy. Moreover, the panel shows some characteristics of the traditional Sienese school—such as the quality and elegance of the lines—which persists in Giovanni’s works.
  • –1890s
    M. Chaff, Paris (as Mantegna)
    1890s
    Baron Michele Lazzaroni, Paris (1863–1934)
    –1929
    John E. Fairfax Murray, Florence (1849–1919)
    1929
    M. Knoedler & Co., New York City
    1929–1940
    James Parmelee, Washington D.C. (1855–1931)
    1940
    By bequest to The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Francis, Henry. "The Bequest of James Parmelee." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 28, no. 2 (February 1941): 15-27. Reproduced: p. 14; Mentioned: p. 16 www.jstor.org
    Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945. Reproduced: p. 49 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 403 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 83 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 83 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 1. European Paintings before 1500. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Reproduced: fig. 35, p. 96 - 97
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 95 archive.org
  • Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).
  • {{cite web|title=The Crucifixion|url=false|author=Matteo di Giovanni|year=1470s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1940.535