Descent from the Cross

Rosso Fiorentino's Descent from the Cross, dated 1521, shows the moment when Christ is taken down from the cross. The scene is arranged on two levels: above, figures on ladders lower the body; below, the Virgin, pale and downcast, collapses into the arms of two women, while Mary Magdalene, in bright red, clings to the Virgin's legs and an apostle turns his face away in grief. The landscape is dark and nearly barren, leaving the bodies to carry the drama. Rather than classical serenity, the painting offers elongated figures, small heads, a cramped and unstable space and light that seems to come from several sources at once. These distortions make it one of the earliest examples of Florentine Mannerism. It is often compared with Pontormo's treatment of the same subject, painted at nearly the same time but far more composed. Originally made for the cathedral of Volterra, it is generally regarded as the artist's masterpiece, and it is also remembered for its use as an iconographic reference in Pasolini's segment La ricotta in the collective film Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963).

Painter

Rosso Fiorentino

Date

1521

Medium

oil paint, panel

Dimensions

375 × 196 cm

Museum

Pinacoteca e Museo Civico di Volterra, Volterra

Movement

High Renaissance

Genre

religious art

Depicts

Jesus Christ, man

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