Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Crucifixion [middle panel] – (Andrea Di Vanni D'andrea) ◄ Previous Next ►

Artist: Andrea Di Vanni D'andrea

Date: 1380

Size: 57 x 58 cm

Technique: Tempera On Panel

Three men hang on wooden crosses above people crowded below in this square panel painting. The crucified men wear only white cloths across their hips, and their pale skin has a noticably green cast. A halo encircles the bent head of the man on the middle cross, Jesus, who wears a ring of thorns in his long, red hair. Blood trickles down his forehead and drips from nails driven through his hands and overlapped feet, and from a gash over his right ribs, to our left. Four miniature, winged angels are painted entirely in tones of dark cobalt blue fly in pairs on either side of his body. An inscription over the top of the cross reads “INRI” in gold letters against a red field. The other two crosses are spaced evenly to either side. The men are tied with their elbows hooked unnaturally back over the crossbeams and wounds on their broken shins pour blood. The man to our left tilts his head up as one small, golden angel touches the back of his head and the other lifts a miniature version of the man from his parted lips. To our right, the man’s eyes roll back and his mouth gapes open as two black, winged creatures like dragons fly overhead. In the bottom left corner, a group of four women comfort a recumbent woman with long blond hair wearing a blue cloak. In the right corner, a group of three men tug at a blue tunic, as they draw straws from one man’s fist. Other men and women, a few with gold halos, cluster at the feet of the crosses, wearing robes and armor in shades of buttercup yellow, coral and brick red, light and lapis blue, and brown. The panel is in a gold frame inset with a band of lapis blue with a scrolling, leafy design in gold.