The Crucifixion
Unknown Austrian Master
AUSTRIAN MASTER, c.1410. TEMPERA AND GOLD ON WOOD PANEL.
In the fledgling beginnings of the Northern Renaissance, removed the cultural epicentre of Italy whose artistic style was progressing ahead of its northern neighbours, artists were rediscovering a representational style that had been lost for centuries. Perspectival drawing was mastered by the ancient world who, across generations of trial and error, discovered the secrets to representing a three-dimensional world onto a flat plane. But in the preceding centuries, the skills and knowledge of this style were lost – until, that is, the arrival of the renaissance at the end of 14th century. In the early decades of this revolution, we can witness the evolution of this style in real time, watch masterful artists create life from tempera, wood and brushes, and, in their completed works, see the successes and the failures go hand in hand. The results are poignant and surreal, as exemplified in this work by an unknown Austrian master. Figures’ scale changes with no relation to their positioning on the canvas, but this allows us to see their expressions more clearly. Detailed faces seem to sit in biologically impossible positions which only emphasises the anguish. For each imperfection, something is gained, and the immaculate detail of this work, both in narrative and emotion, is possible only for the slight naivety of its style.