Italian Florentine Gilt Bronze of the Crucified Christ
An Italian Florentine Gilt Bronze of the Crucified Christ after a Model by Giambologna
Extensive gilding to entire surface over dark brown bronze showing through small patches of wear
Late 16th Century / Early 17th Century
Size: 22.5cm high, 21.5cm wide - 8¾ ins high, 8½ ins wide
Extensive gilding to entire surface over dark brown bronze showing through small patches of wear
Late 16th Century / Early 17th Century
Size: 22.5cm high, 21.5cm wide - 8¾ ins high, 8½ ins wide
This sculpture of the crucified Christ is modelled after a bronze Christ on the cross which was given by the master Giambologna to the convent of St Maria degli Angiolini in Florence around 1588. The delicate image of the dead Christ, his head gently fallen over his right shoulder, his lean youthful anatomy with emphatically delineated rib cage and gently protruding belly repeats Giambologna’s work. The particular configuration of the fold in the part of the loincloth that sags vertically from the knot over the right thigh directly duplicates this model and distinguishes it from casts made after other Giambologna models of Christ on the cross. However, the drops of blood that issue from Christ’s side and the handling of the hair, hands and feet are different. By 1600 small crucifixes were being produced in large numbers in the Florentine workshops and one of Susini’s assistants, Francesco Pezutelli, is known to have specialised in casting bronze crucifixes.
Italian Florentine Gilt Bronze of the Crucified Christ
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