The Crucifixion

Jacopo di Cione, the youngest of the four Cione brothers who dominated Florentine painting in the 1360s and 1370s, created this Crucifixion around 1369 for what was likely a major Florentine church commission. The Cione workshop — which included the famous Orcagna (Andrea) and Nardo — was the most important artistic dynasty in post-plague Florence, producing works of solemn grandeur that reflected the changed spiritual climate after 1348. This large Crucifixion in the National Gallery, London is one of Jacopo's principal works.

Executed in tempera and gold on a large panel, the Crucifixion presents a crowded, multi-figured composition with carefully differentiated mourners, soldiers, and bystanders around the three crosses. The technique displays the Cione workshop's characteristic firm drawing, saturated colors, and elaborate gold punch-work, with a monumental scale suited to church display.