Painted Crucifix

This early Florentine crucifix shows Christ on the cross, flanked by a lamenting Mary and praying John the Evangelist. Above him is depicted a mother pelican with her brood; this image was symbolic of Christ's sacrifice as it was believed that these birds pierced their breast so that their young could feed on their blood. The Latin text at the top of the cross reads, "Here is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." Christ's body is depicted as very thin, with ribs clearly apparent; he hangs lightly from his arms, without great weight. His eyes and mouth are slightly open and blood drips from his wounds. A very similar work is in the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, Germany, and shows both Mary and John with hands clasped, looking toward Christ.

Rising almost eight feet, a work such as this is very rare and derives from similar paintings by Giotto di Bondone and his school, including that of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, important for its naturalistic depiction of Christ. Such crosses are known from the eleventh century but reached their height of development in the fourteenth century. The early Italian scholar Richard Offner attributed Oberlin's work to the workshop of the Master of the Corsi Crucifix, active in Florence in the 1330s. A painting such as this would have been placed above the high altar in a church, on the reverse of an altar, on a rood screen (separating the laity from the choir), or perhaps in a family chapel.