Attributed to Salerno di Coppo
The Crucifixion
Pistoia, Tuscany, 1280
Tempera on wood
50.8 x 27 cm
Christ is crucified in front of his mother, the Virgin Mary, and his friend, John the Evangelist. Neither can look at his broken body. The angels above the crossbar share their grief. One of them covers their eyes while the other looks out to the viewer, urging us to be moved by the tragedy.
This is the earliest painting in the Barber’s collection. It is the fragment of a diptych (two panels hinged together) used for prayer. It is likely the other panel depicted the Virgin Mary on a throne with Jesus on her lap. This is an early example of an iconography (visual motif) called Christus patiens, the suffering Christ. Before this time, the more common form of crucifixion painting was the Christus triumphans (triumphant Christ), where Jesus is shown alive and seemingly unaffected. Here, however, the artist has focussed on the pain and death of Christ, so as to provoke an emotional response from viewers.
This panel is attributed to Salerno di Coppo, one of the leading artists in the small city of Pistoia, 20 miles north of Florence, Tuscany. Along with his father, Coppo di Marcovaldo (1225-1276), he painted large frescoes and panels for churches, as well as smaller devotional objects like this one for wealthy donors and members of the religious orders.
This diptych would have been folded away, transported, propped up on a desk, kissed, touched, and adored as a tool to facilitate devotion to Christ.
Purchased 1939 (No. 39.1)
Further reading:
Bellosi, Luciano, ‘Su Corso di Buono’, in Umbri e Toscani tra Due e Trecento: catalogo della Mostra, ed. Luciano Bellosi, Turin, 1988, pp. 39-52.
Boskovitz, Miklos, The Origins of Florentine Painting 1100-1270, Florence,1993, p. 128.
Caneva, Caterina and Lia Brunori, La Croce dipinta di Coppo di Marcovaldo e Salerno di Coppo a Pistoia, Pistoia, 2009, p. 56.
Coor-Achenbach, Gertrude, ‘A Visual Basis for the Documents Relating to Coppo Di Marcovaldo and His Son Salerno’, The Art Bulletin, 28/4, 1946, pp. 233–47.
Rogionieri, Giuliana and Luciano Bellosi, Cimabue, New York, 1998, p. 126-28.