German School; c. 1490.

German School; c. 1490.
"Christ crucified".
Carved, polychrome and gilded wood.
Measurements: 75 x 61 cm; 135,5 x 75 cm (cross).
Polychrome and gilded wood carving showing Christ with the Crown of Thorns, on the Cross, already dead (eyes closed), with the usual INRI phylactery on the upper crossbar of the Latin cross, three nails (note the crossed feet) and a short, gilded and polychrome cloth of purity or perizonium. It is known, in German, as "Gabelkreuz" or "Gabelkruzifix" ("Crucifijo Doloroso" in English) to a type of Gothic Crucified Christ especially expressive (prioritizing the external suffering over other aspects) and that, normally, presents the cross in the form of Y or ypsilon (alluding to the Tree of Life), created, it seems, thanks to the influence of the mysticism of the late 13th and early 14th century (Saint Brigit, etc.) and that can be found in the Rhineland (western Germany) and, through influences and contacts, in the rest of Europe (apparently, some people now consider that the origin of the iconography is not German but Italian). Most of the sculptures of this variant are concentrated in three European areas: the German area that includes the current federal states of northern Rhineland Westphalia, Rheiland-Pfalz, Lower Saxony and central and northern Italy, although they are also found in other enclaves such as Lucera in Apulia, Palermo in Sicily and Oristiano in Sardinia. Nor should we forget the Spanish examples (usually falling into three categories: those derived from the Santo Cristo de Perpignan, the Castilian group, the Navarre images and the Andalusian Crucifixions). One of the oldest pieces that follow this typology is the Crucifijo Doloroso from the Church of Santa Maria del Capitolio in Cologne. In Italy, the one in the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence is usually highlighted. In Spain there is one in Puente la Reina (Navarra) that is considered a donation of a German pilgrim of the XIV century; there is one in the low choir of the monastery of Santa María de las Huelgas Reales in Burgos attributed to a Central European workshop or to some sculptor influenced by these models in the second half of the XIV century (with Latin cross). It is also necessary to take into account the German sculptors who traveled and worked in Europe.