The Crucifixion
Andrea di Bartolo
ANDREA DI BARTOLO, c1400. TEMPERA ON WOOD PANEL.
In brilliance and brightness, the tragedy and drama of the crucifixion is played out. The technicolor masses that gather below the cross exist in vignettes of action - Mary collapses and is looked after by saintly figures, three wise men gather below Christ to confer, guards gamble in the foreground for the punished’s belonging, and a watchmen breaks the leg of the crucified man to Christ’s left. The moral theatre is rendered in unusually joyful color such that each figure seems like a gemstone, bringing the weight of the picture to the base and leaving the top half adrift in rich gold. The Bartolo family of which Andrea was a part had a long lineage as artists and craftspeople, and the ornate decoration of gold backgrounds had become a calling card for the lineage. The haloes of Christ and the angels around him are punched with delicate geometric patterns into the wood itself, and the gold background has a border of subtly decorated relief running its length. While the bright colors of below may immediately draw the eye, it is Christ, the gold sky behind him, and the angels around him who Bartolo has paid the most attention to.