Beni Culturali Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico Artistico ed Etnoantropologico per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Crucifix

Giovanni Francesco Susini, Crocifisso - Crucifix
Object belonging
One's own
Category
Bronze sculpture
City
Rome
Location
Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia
Specific location
Room 17
Inventory
PV 00818
Material and technique
Bronze, ebony
Author
Antonio Susini (doc. 1572-1624)
Dating
1572-1624
Dimensions
86.5 x 37 x 14.5 cm. (Christ 38.5 x 31.5)
Origin
Ministry of Public Works (1919)
Image copyright
SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

This crucifix is by Antonio Susini, who was Giambologna's apprentice and assistant. He skillfully replicated his master's models, adding his own original touches and improvements in the process: his work not only showed the hand of a great sculptor but also of a talented and detailed founder. Literature extensively documents his modelling and fusing of this type of crucifix, which were highly sought-after by nobility at the time. Susini’s crucifixes vary in both size and form. The depiction of Golgotha, which serves as a base for the cross, varies, with some fused in bronze and others carved in ebony; sometimes a bronze skull, representing Adam’s head, can be seen amongst the rocks. Since so many of these sculptures were produced, it is impossible to determine whether or not this precise bronze is referenced in inventories.

Pietro Cannata

Bibliography

P. Cannata, La Collezione Barsanti, la Collezione Auriti, la Collezione Ravajoli, Rome 1988, pp. 21-23; P. Cannata, in S. Zuraw - M. G. Barberini - M. L. Casanova (eds.), Masterpieces of Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture from the Palazzo Venezia, Rome, exh. cat., Athens (Georgia) 1996, pp. 60-61, no. 11; P. Cannata, in M. G. Barberini - M. S. Sconci (eds.), Guida al Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome 2009, p. 78, no. 82.

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Page created 15/01/2009, last modify 15/11/2010