Crucifixion

Taddeo Gaddi, the most faithful and longest-serving pupil of Giotto, passed on his master's revolutionary approach to pictorial space and narrative clarity to the next generation of Florentine painters. This Crucifixion, dating to around 1350, represents the culmination of the Giottesque tradition in its treatment of the central drama of Christian faith. Now in the National Museum in Warsaw, the panel demonstrates the international reach of Florentine Gothic painting, which was exported and collected far beyond Tuscany.

Tempera on panel with gold background, featuring Taddeo's solid, three-dimensional figure modeling derived from Giotto's example. The composition balances symmetry and emotional intensity, with the mourning figures flanking the cross rendered in restrained but expressive poses.