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A mostly nude, thin man, Jesus, hangs by his outstretched hands from a wooden cross and is flanked by two people, one on each side of the cross in this round painting. Against a shiny gold background, the cross and two people stand on a gray stone platform that forms a base at the bottom. The two people below have peachy skin, and Jesus’s skin has a gray cast. All of their heads are encircled with flat, gold, disk-like halos. Eyes closed, Jesus’s face tips down to our left, and his body faces us. He has a copper-brown, forked beard, a prominent nose, and his lips are parted. Blood trickles from a ring of thorns around his head, over long hair. Blood drips from the nails holding his hands and feet, which overlap on the cross, and from a gash over his right ribs. A plaque at the top of the cross, over Jesus’s head, has the letters “INRI” painted in red. Standing at the foot of the cross to our left, an older woman wears an off-white wimple around her face and covering her neck, and an ocean-blue dress under an eggplant-purple cloak. Her head tips forward, her eyes closed and lips pressed into a frown. Her crossed hands grip her cloak at her waist. To our right, a man stands at the foot of the cross, his body angled to our left. His head tips slightly up to look at Jesus with narrowed eyes, his mouth turned down. He has long, sable-brown hair and a clean-shaven face. He wears a black tunic tied with a rope and a garnet-red cloak bunched at his waist and over his left shoulder. His left hand holds up his cloak. The surface of the painting is covered with a network of fine cracks and some of the brick-red layer under the gold shows through. Blood pours from Jesus’s feet onto a skull at the base of the skull. The platform on which they stand has an arched opening at the bottom center with some bones protruding from the dark, cavernous space.

Francesco del Cossa

The Crucifixion, c. 1473/1474

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 13

Medium

tempera on poplar panel

Dimensions

overall (diameter of painted surface): 60 × 63.2 cm (23 5/8 × 24 7/8 in.)

framed: 103.51 × 102.87 × 18.42 cm (40 3/4 × 40 1/2 × 7 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1952.5.5

Artists / Makers

Francesco del Cossa (artist) Ferrarese, c. 1436 - 1477/1478

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

over the cross: INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum = Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, from John 19:19)

Provenance

Comissioned c. 1473 by Floriano Griffoni for a family chapel (the sixth off the north aisle) in the church of San Petronio, Bologna;[1] moved to the Casa Aldrovandi, Bologna, c. 1731, but no longer there in 1782.[2] Possibly Giovanni Costabili, Ferrara, by 1872.[3] Philip Lehman [1861-1947], New York, by 1914; sold June 1943 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1952 to NGA.

[1] The first mention of the altarpiece is in Giorgio Vasari's Vite. "Lorenzo Cossa" (a conflation of Cossa and Lorenzo Costa), in the 1550 life of Cossa's student Ercole de' Roberti ("Ercole Ferrarese", Vasari, ed. Rosanna Bettarini and Paola Barocchi, 8+ vols., Florence, 1966-: 3,part 1[1971]: 420), notes "E cosi in San Petronio, in una cappella, una tavola a tempera che si conosce a la maniera, con una predella sotto di figure piccole fatte con gran diligenzia" ("And likewise [he painted] in San Petronio, in a chapel, an altarpiece in tempera recognizale by its style, with a predella beneath of small figures done with great diligence"). In the 1568 edition of the Lives (ed. Bettarini and Barocchi, 3, part 1, 1971: 419-420), Vasari provides further information, noting that the chapel was dedicated to Saint Vincent and that the predella, which Vasari considered of higher quality than the rest of the altarpiece, was painted by Ercole.

The 1568 edition includes a separate biography for "Lorenzo Costa" (the same Cossa-Costa conflation with a slightly different name) mentioning the chapel's donors, the Griffoni (Vasari, ed. Bettarini and Barocchi, 3, part 1, 1971: 415-416). That the Griffoni patron of the altarpiece was Floriano is demonstrated by a document of 19 July 1473 (Archivio di San Petronio, Vacchetta di mandati, VII, n. 413, c. 13t), cited by I.B. Supino, L'arte nelle chiese di Bologna: secoli XV-XVI, 2 vols., Bologna, 1932 and 1938: 2:196-199: "Item, m. Augustino de Marchi de Crema, magistro lignaminis, libras sex quatrinorum pro capsa quam fecit circa tablum altaris Floriani de Grifonibus; promiserunt Officiales ei donare." ("Item, the officials promised to give to Messr. Agostino de Marchi of Crema, master woodworker, six lire, for the frame which he made around Floriano Griffoni's altarpiece"). It was customary for an artist to undertake a large-scale painting after its frame had been made, so work on the altarpiece probably began after the woodcarver received payment for the frame.

The attribution to Lorenzo Costa and association with Griffoni are also found in Pietro Lamo, Graticola di Bologna, ossia descrizione delle pitture sculture e architteture di detta citta [c. 1560], Bologna, 1844: 39; Carlo Cesare Malvasia, Pitture di Bologna, Bologna, 1686: 242; Antonio di Paolo Masini, Bologna perlustrata, Bologna, 1666, 111, and Pitture di Bologna (anonymous revision of Malvasia 1686), Bologna, 1706: 259.

[2] On 14 February 1725 the painter Stefano Orlandi wrote to Cardinal Pompeo Aldrovandi, to whom custody of the Griffoni chapel had passed (Daniele Benati, 1984, 193 note 26, and "Per la recomposizione del polittico Griffoni," in Da Borso a Cesare d'Este: La scuola di Ferrara, 1450-1628, [exh. cat., Matthiesen Fine Art, Ltd., London], Ferrara, 1985: 172-174), "Dal sig. Dottore Galimberti mi viene signigicato che vostra Signoria Illustrissima e Reverendissima sia per fare dipingere nella sua capella in San Petrino l'ornamento del altare...per ciò ò stimato bene presentarli un piccolo abozo della forma che si ritrova la tavola di detta altare a ciò veda, che per fare un ornamento moderno, quello non potria servire in nisuna forma..." ("from Dr. Galimberti I understand that Your Reverence wishes to have decoration for the altar of your chapel in San Petronio painted...thus I have thought well to present to you a small sketch of the altarpiece so that you will see that it will not serve in any form to make modern ornamentation"). Orlandi's suggestion to remove the altarpiece seems to have been carried out shortly before 22 October 1731, when Aldrovandi was sent a letter from his agent Angelo Fontana (Benati, see above), which reads in part "In ordine poi al dipinto, che stava all'Altare nella Cappella in S. Petronio non mancarò d'abboccarmi col Sig. Maccaferri per ridurre quello in tanti quadretti nella miglior forma, che si potrà, supponendo voglia farli ornare concornici proprie per campagna..." ("As for the painting that was on the altar in the chapel in S. Petronio, I won't fail to speak with Sig. Maccaferri about reducing it into so many small pieces in the best possible shape, supposing a desire to ornament them with frames appropriate for the countryside..."). The Griffoni altarpiece was no longer included in the Pitture di Bologna of 1732. The 1776 edition of Pitture, scolture ed architetture...di Bologna..., 215, notes decoration by Orlandi and Vittorio Bigari in the chapel ("Cospi, non più Griffoni") and continues: "La Tavola del Costa, colle storiette d'Ercole da Ferrara notate dal Vasari furono trasportate in Casa Aldrovandi allorchè il Cardinal Pompeo Aldrovandi successore de' Griffoni fece ridurre questa Cappella come al presente, prima di cambiarla colla Casa Cospi..." ("Costa's [sic] altarpiece, along with the little stories by Ercole of Ferrara noted by Vasari, were transported to the Casa Aldrovandi when Cardinal Pompeo Aldrovandi, successor of the Griffoni, had the chapel reduced to its present form, before exchanging it with the Cospi family"). An inventory of the Casa Aldrovandi in 1782 (Ms. B104, Biblioteca dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna) does not include any pictures that could come from the Griffoni altarpiece, however.

[3] Robert Lehman, The Philip Lehman Collection, New York: Paintings, Paris, 1928: no. 80, indicates that the tondo comes from the Costabili collection in Ferrara. No Crucifixion fitting this description is found in the collection of Count Giovanni Battista Costabili in 1838 (see Camillo Laderchi, Descrizione della quadreria Costabili, Ferrara, 1838-1841), but the sales catalogue of the collection of his nephew Giovanni Costabilli (Ferrara, 1872) lists a tondo with gold background ascribed to Lorenzo Costa, which could in fact be this painting, given the murky nineteenth-century knowledge of Ferrarese artists.

[4] Joseph Breck, "A Crucifixion by Francesco del Cossa," Art in America 2 (June 1914): 314-317, describes the painting as having "...recently been acquired by Mr. Philip Lehman of New York..." Philip apparently gave the painting to his son Robert [1892-1969], who worked closely with his father in acquiring paintings for the collection, and who became a collector in his own right. A bill of sale between Robert Lehman and the Kress Foundation for fifteen paintings, including The Crucifixion, dated 11 June 1943 (payment was made four days later; copy in NGA curatorial files), indicates that he was the owner of the paintings. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2115.

Associated Names

Costabili, Giovanni
Griffoni, Floriano
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.
Lehman, Philip

Exhibition History

1946: Recent Additions to the Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. 793.

Bibliography

1914: Breck, Joseph. "A Crucifixion by Francesco del Cossa." Art In America II (1914):314, repro.

1914: Perkins, J. Mason. "La Crocefissione di Francesco del Cossa." L'Arte XVII (1914):222+, repro.

1925: Fiocco, Giuseppe. "Andrea del Castagno nel Veneto." Belvedere 7, no. 6 (July 1925):157, repro.

1928: Lehman, Robert. The Philip Lehman Collection, New York: Paintings. Paris, 1928: no. LXXX, repro.

1931: Venturi, Adolfo. North Italian Painting of the Quattrocento: Emilia. Florence and New York, 1931:43, repro.

1934: Longhi, Roberto. Officina Ferrarese. Rome, 1934: 50, repro.

1945: Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 77, repro.

1946: Frankfurter, Alfred M. Supplement to the Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1946: 35, repro.

1950: Nicolson, Benedict. The Painters of Ferrara. London, 1950:13, repro.

1952: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 44, color repro.

1956: Longhi, Roberto. Officina ferrarese (1934), seguíta dagli Ampliamenti (1940) e dai Nuovi ampliamenti (1940-1955). Florence, 1956: 33, 130-131.

1956: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 22, repro.

1957: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 10.

1958: Neppi, Alberto. Francesco Del Cossa. Milan, 1958:27, repro.

1958: Volpe, Carlo. "Tre vetrate ferraresi e il Rinascimento a Bologna." Arte Antica e Moderna (1958):23+

1959: Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 115, repro.

1959: Ruhmer, Eberhard. Francesco Del Cossa. Munich, 1959:77, repro.

1961: Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 48, repro. pl. 45.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 301, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 32.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:62, color repro.

1966: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XIII-XV Century. London, 1966: 84-85, fig. 225.

1968: Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:95.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 25, repro.

1972: Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 56.

1974: Molajoli, Rosemarie. L'Opera completa di Cosmè Tura e i grandi pittori ferraresi del suo tempo: Francesco Cossa e Ercole de'Roberti. Milan, 1974:no. 82, repro.

1974: Pesenti, Franco Renzo. "Dismembered works of art - Italian painting." In An Illustrated Inventory of Famous Dismembered Works of Art: European Painting. Paris, 1974: 24, 46-47, repro.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 80, repro.

1979: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:142-143; 2:pl. 98.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 116, no. 98, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 100, repro.

1992: Santucci, Paola. La Pittura del Quattrocento. Torino, 1992:206, repro.

1997: Barstow, Kurtis. "The Gualenghi-d'Este Hours": Art and Devotion in Renaissance Ferrara. Ph.D dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1997: viii, 23-24, 215 fig. I.12.

2003: Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 223-225, color repro.

2003: Sgarbi, Vittorio. Francesco del Cossa. Milan, 2003: 136-139, repro., 230, cat. 20.

2016: Bacchi, Andrea, and Andrea De Marchi, eds. La Galleria di Palazzo Cini. Dipinti, sculture, oggetti d'arte. Venice, 2016: 179, 182 repro.