Crucifixion with Saint Mary Magdalene
Luca Signorelli, 1502
Around 1502, Luca Signorelli painted this Crucifixion on canvas, a work now held in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Christ stands at the centre, seen frontally and in a rigid pose, his dark, monumental body silhouetted against the landscape, while the marks of the Passion are clearly visible, such as the blood dripping from his wounds. At his feet, Mary Magdalene kneels with her arms stretched out in a gesture of despair, although her face remains calm. At the base of the cross, a skull with a serpent serves as a memento mori, a reminder of death. The landscape has an almost visionary character, with rocky outcrops and a sea of cresting waves, and it holds secondary scenes: Peter's repentance, the deposition with a pyramidal composition, and the carrying of Christ's body, placed at different depths and not always convincingly linked. On the left, a city filled with classical monuments and ruins includes Castel Sant'Angelo on the edge of a cliff. The small flowers in the foreground have been connected with Flemish painting and with Leonardo da Vinci's scientific naturalism.
- Painter
- Luca Signorelli
- Date
- 1502
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 247 × 165 cm
- Museum
- Uffizi Gallery, Florence
- Genre
- religious art
- Depicts
- waist-length hair, crucifixion of Jesus, Mary Magdalene
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