Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes

Borgo Crucifix Master

Umbrian, active 1260s and 1270s

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Shown against a shiny gold background, a cleanshaven young man with carrot-orange hair stands with his head tipped sharply to rest in one hand in this vertical painting. His skin is pale with a noticeably green tint. He tips his head to our left and looks at us with brown eyes. His left cheek flushes with a bright pink circle, and four vertical white strokes indicate creases in the flesh above the cheekbone. Visible strokes in butter yellow pick out his chin, nose, wrinkles on his furrowed forehead, and the fingertip of his pinky finger, along his cheek. His long-sleeved, lapis-blue garment falls in stylized folds to his bare feet. The lighter, slate-blue mantle wraps around his torso to his knees. The long fingers of his left hand, on our right, rests against his thigh. White highlights create swirling, angular patterns in the folds of the garments. A halo around his head is punched and incised into the gold background. A network of cracks runs across the gold background, and the red layer underneath is visible in some areas.
Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes, The Mourning Saint John the Evangelist, c. 1270/1275, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.14

The Mourning Saint John the Evangelist

Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes · c. 1270/1275 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.14

Shown against a shiny gold background, a woman wearing a royal-blue mantle that covers her head and body stands with her head tipped sharply to rest in one hand in this vertical painting. Her skin is pale with a noticeably green tint. She tilts her head to our right and looks in that direction with brown eyes. Her right cheek flushes with a bright pink circle, and three horizontal pale yellow strokes indicate wrinkles at the corner of the eye closer to us. Visible strokes in butter yellow define her chin, nose, wrinkles on her furrowed forehead, and neck. A dark violet-purple cloth hangs over the shoulders of her blue mantle. A four-lobed design, perhaps a flower, is painted on her right shoulder, closer to us. The purple cloth is edged with gold, and tiny tassels with clover-shaped ends hang from the bottom hem. The blue mantle drapes over pointed, red shoes. A halo around her head is punched and incised into the gold background. A network of cracks runs across the gold background, and the red layer underneath is visible in some areas.
Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes, The Mourning Madonna, c. 1270/1275, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.13

The Mourning Madonna

Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes · c. 1270/1275 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.13

Bibliography

1922

  • Sirén, Osvald. Toskanische Maler im XIII. Jahrhundert. Berlin, 1922: 219-225.

1929

  • Vavalà, Evelyn Sandberg. La croce dipinta italiana e l’iconografia della Passione. Verona, 1929: 844-858.

1949

  • Garrison, Edward B. Italian Romanesque Panel Painting: an Illustrated Index. Florence, 1949: 13, 14, 208, 209, 211, 213.

1986

  • Lunghi, Elvio. “Maestro dei Crocifissi Blu.” In La Pittura in Italia. Il Duecento e il Trecento. Edited by Enrico Castelnuovo. 2 vols. Milan, 1986: 2:596.

2000

  • Vannucchi, Giovanni, Miklós Boskovits, and Silvia Giorgio. In Duecento: forme e colori del Medioevo a Bologna. Edited by Massimo Medica and Stefano Tumidei. Exh. cat. Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna. Venice, 2000: 186-203.

2002

  • Giorgio, Silvia. “Maestro dei Crocifissi Francescani.” In La pittura in Europa. Il Dizionario dei pittori. Edited by Carlo Pirovano. 3 vols. Milan, 2002: 2:534.

2004

  • Giorgio, Silvia. In Pinacoteca Nazionale (Bologna). Catalogo generale. Vol. 1 (of 5), Dal Duecento a Francesco Francia. Edited by Jadranka Bentini, Gian Piero Cammarota, and Daniela Scaglietti Kelescian. Venice, 2004: 41-44.

2006

  • Tambini, Anna. Storia delle arti figurative a Faenza. Vol. 1 (of 4), Le origini. Faenza, 2006: 74-82.

2016

  • Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 274-275.