Crucifix

Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci, a Camaldolese monk at the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence, was one of the most accomplished illuminators of the Trecento. This painted Crucifix from around 1370 reflects the monastic artistic tradition where monks produced devotional art for their own communities and for patrons. Now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this work demonstrates how the great Florentine monastic scriptoria produced not only manuscripts but also panel paintings of remarkable sophistication.

Executed in egg tempera and gold leaf on a shaped wooden panel in the form of a cross, this Crucifix displays Don Silvestro's refined miniaturist technique applied to a larger format. The delicate modeling of Christ's body and the precise rendering of anatomical detail reflect the artist's training in manuscript illumination, with a jewel-like quality of color and finish.