workshop of Giambologna (1529-1608) Florence, 17th century

Christ shown at the moment of death with eyes closed and head sinking forward to the right

Watson noted that the small crucified Christs are an especially difficult category in Giambologna's oeuvre, for not only did he finish very few crucifixes himself but that each type, even when of the same model and size, shows variations in surface handling and patina which indicate the variety of hands that produced them.  For example, in the present finely cast figure the depiction of the spear wound with blood to his chest is unusual despite the close conformity of the perizonium and details of the hair and beard to well-known prototypes. The corpus derives from the model donated by Giambologna to the Convent of S. Maria degli Angeli in 1588 and to the earlier gilt corpus for the Salviati chapel in the Convent of St. Mark in collaboration with Antonio Susini.

RELATED LITERATURE
Giambologna 1529-1608, sculptor to the Medici, pp.45-47; pp.144-46, nos.105, 107-08, 109