The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 19, 2026

A vertically oriented pen and brown ink drawing in fine lines depicts people with light skin tones gathered around Christ on a central cross. Two thieves hang on either side. Below, a crowded scene of figures and horses fills the lower half. On our right, a man on horseback raises a club. In the lower left, several figures huddle together. Detailed hatching defines the figures on tan paper, which is torn along the right edge.

Crucifixion with the Two Thieves

1450–1500

Italy, Piedmont

pen and brown ink and black chalk
Sheet: 24.4 x 19.4 cm (9 5/8 x 7 5/8 in.)
Delia E. and L. E. Holden Funds and John L. Severance Fund 1956.43
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.
  • c.1450s-c.1510
    The drawing is acquired by Antonio II Badile (c.1424-c.1511)
    c.1520
    The drawing is included in an album of drawings compiled from Antionio II Badile’s collection, likely by one or both of his sons, Bartolomeo III Badile(1464/67-1545) or Francesco II Badile(1476/77-1544).
    1672
    The drawing is in the collection of Lodovico Moscardo as part of the Badile Album.
    1785
    The drawing enters the collection of the Miniscalchi family as part of the Badile Album upon the marriage of Teresa Moscardo and Marcantonio Miniscalchi.
    1905
    The drawing is purchased by an unknown collector after Mario Miniscalchi-Erizzo begins to sell drawings from the Moscardo collection, including the Badile Album.
    1947-1954
    The drawing is purchased, along with the rest of the Badile Album, by Francis Matthiesen, who dismantles the album and begins selling individual drawings.
    1956
    The drawing is purchased by the Cleveland Museum of Art.
  • Francis, Henry S. “Rare Italian Drawings” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 45, no. 8 (1958): 195–202. Reproduced: cover; Mentioned: p. 195-197. www.jstor.org
    Ragghianti, Carlo L., ed. “Acquisti di Musei.” Sele arte, no. 40 (March 1959). Mentioned and reproduced p.58 (as Altichiero)
    Verdier, Phillippe, ed. The International Style: The Arts in Europe Around 1400. Walters Art Gallery, 1962. Mentioned and reproduced: p.1, n.1; pl.XXXVII (as circle of Altichiero)
    Ames, Winslow. Great Drawings of All Time: Italian. Vol. 1, edited by Ira Moskowitz and Victoria Thorson. Great Drawings of All Time. Shorewood Publishers, 1962. n.6 (As Altichiero Altichieri)
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 58 archive.org
    Kruft, Hanno-Walter. “Altichiero Und Avanzo : Untersuchungen Zur Oberitalienischen Malerei Des Ausgehenden Trecento.” Dissertation, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, 1966. Mentioned: 186, no. 13
    Scholz, Janos. “Italian Drawings in the Art Museum of Princeton University.” The Burlington Magazine 109, no. 770 (1967): 290–99. Mentioned: p.293 (as attributed to Altichiero) www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 58 archive.org
    Evans, M. W. Medieval Drawings. Feltham: Hamlyn, 1969. Mentioned and reproduced: p.40, pl.121 (as circle of Altichiero)
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 66 archive.org
    Olszewski, Edward J. Drawings in Midwestern Collections: Early Works. Vol. 1, edited by Burton L. Dunbar and Edward J. Olszewski. Drawings in Midwestern Collections: A Corpus Compiled by the Midwest Art History Society. University of Missouri Press, 1996. Mentioned and reproduced: n.3, p. 14-17 (as Bernardino Jacopi Butinone)
    Karet, Evelyn, and Peter Windows. “The ‘Antonio II Badile Album’ of Drawings: A Reconstruction of an Early Sixteenth Century Collection.” Arte Lombarda, no. 145 (3) (2005): 23–56. Mentioned and reproduced: 50-51, fig 6, 26v[93] (as Veronese artist after Altichiero Altichieri)
    Degenhart, Bernhard, Annegrit Schmitt, Hans-Joachim Eberhardt, et al. Verona Badile-Album: Studiensammlung Einer Veroneser Künstlerwerkstatt. Vol. 3. Corpus Der Italienischen Zeichnungen 1300-1450. Biering & Brinkmann, 2010. Mentioned and reproduced: 290-299, n.836, pl.59
    Karet, Evelyn. The Antonio II Badile Album of Drawings: The Origins of Collecting Drawings in Early Modern Northern Italy. With Peter Windows and Alessandra Zamperini. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: 77-78, appendix 1: 26v; appendix 2b: 26v
  • Michelangelo: Mind of the Master. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 2019-January 5, 2020).
    Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 1986-March 1, 1987).
    CMA, Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection (Dec. 15, 1986-Mar. 1, 1987).
    I and Thou. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 21-May 27, 1984).
    CMA, I and Thou (Feb. 21-May 27, 1984).
    CMA, "Drawings from the Collection" (Apr. 27, 1972-Feb. 2, 1973).
    CMA, "Drawings from the Collection" (Dec. 1, 1970-Jan. 31, 1971; Mar. 16, 1971- (Gallery F remained open)).
    Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 11-October 21, 1968).
    CMA, "Drawings from the Collection" (June 11, 1968- ).
    Italian Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 26, 1968).
    CMA, Italian Prints and Drawings (Jan. 30-Mar. 26, 1968).
    Drawings from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 9, 1967-January 1, 1968).
    CMA, "Drawings from the Collection" (June 9, 1967-Jan. 21, 1968).
    Old Master Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29, 1966-February 28, 1967).
    CMA, Old Master Prints and Drawings (July 29, 1966-Apr. 1, 1967).
    Old Master Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-31, 1964).
    Gothic Art 1360-1440. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 6-September 15, 1963).
    The International Style: The Arts in Europe around 1400. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 23-December 2, 1962).
    Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, The International Style (Oct. 23-Dec. 2, 1962) [loan extended to Dec. 30, 1962], no. 1, pl. xxxvii.
    CMA, "Drawings from the Collection" (Mar. 7-Apr. 26, 1962).
    Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).
    CMA, Art and Humanism in the Renaissance (Jan. 22-Feb. 25, 1962).
    Newark (N.J.) Museum, Old Master Drawings (Mar. 17-May 22, 1960), no. 2, p. 12, illus.
    Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).
    CMA, Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition (Mar. 3, 1958-Oct. 11, 1959).
    CMA, Old Master Drawings (Mar. 10-30, 1964).
  • {{cite web|title=Crucifixion with the Two Thieves|url=false|author=|year=1450–1500|access-date=19 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1956.43