Italian School; 16th–17th centuries.

Italian School; 16th–17th centuries.
“Crucifixion.”
Gilded bronze cast using the lost-wax method.
Measurements: 50 x 39 x 8 cm.
An Italian devotional sculpture from the late 16th or early 17th century, depicting Christ crucified with a stylized anatomy, his arms outstretched at a marked diagonal, and his legs joined beneath a wide cloth of purity, rendered through deep and dynamic folds.
The work is closely related to the tradition of Giambologna (1529–1608) and his Florentine circle, particularly in its elongated conception of the figure, the elegance of its proportions, and the meticulous treatment of the anatomy. Giambologna’s models of the Crucified Christ were widely disseminated through his workshop and by artists such as Antonio Susini and Pietro Tacca, and were reproduced in bronze for decades. Comparable examples are preserved in institutions such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the Francesco Gonzaga Museum in Mantua.
Particularly noteworthy is the quality of the lost-wax casting, which allows for precise definition of the hair, beard, musculature, and veil of purity, as well as the gilding of the surface, which lends the sculpture a solemn character. The tilted face and the contained tension of the body combine the idealized beauty characteristic of the Mannerist tradition with a more human and devotional dimension.

The iconography of the Crucifixion held particular importance in Italian sculpture of the 16th and 17th centuries, both for its profound devotional function and for the opportunities it offered to explore the anatomy, expressiveness, and drama of the human figure. As an heir to the Renaissance and Mannerist traditions, this representation made it possible to combine the idealized beauty of Christ with a growing emotional intensity, especially beginning with the Counter-Reformation, when religious images took on a fundamental role; in fact, the depiction of Christ crucified thus became one of the most recurring themes in Italian sculpture.