Crucifixion with the Holy Women, Saint John, Saint Jerome and Saint Francis

Bottega di Domenico Ghirlandaio XV sec. d.C./ fine

Audio description of the artwork

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The small semicircular panel depicts the crucifixion scene set in an impassable, rocky landscape. The earthy, burnished tones enhance the drama of the painting where splashes of red emphasise certain details and create an almost violent colour contrast.
The tone of heartfelt participation, inspired by the thinking of Savonarola, is especially expressive in the group holding the grief-stricken Virgin, in which the Magdalene, with her back turned, indicates complete participation in the tragedy of the moment; on the other side of the cross, Saint Jerome and Saint Francis absorbed in prayer repeat gestures taken from popular devotion.

Technical information

Author: Bottega di Domenico Ghirlandaio
Title: Crucifixion with the Holy Women, Saint John, Saint Jerome and Saint Francis
Date: XV sec. d.C./ fine
Material and technique: Tempera on panel
Size: 66x43 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
First Floor

The author, an exponent of a simple and heartfelt religiosity, lingers over the narration of the procession to Calvary, displaying a predilection for a calligraphic style with quick, nervous strokes.
These and other elements attest to the importance of the painting in the sphere of the collaborators of Domenico Ghirlandaio, whose workshop in the closing decades of the 15th century was particularly active and produced artworks of rare consistency, so much so that it is difficult to distinguish the individual masters who sometimes participated in the creation of parts of a single painting. Among them, Bartolomeo di Giovanni, was often commissioned to paint predelle or parts of them, given his aptitude for small formats.
With a versatile nature and sensitive to the restlessness of Filippino Lippi, which is evident here in the crucifix, this master specialised in devotional paintings in which he incorporated elements and quotations from the major artistic figures with whom he worked.
Domenico Ghirlandaio and his workshop are responsible for the clouds with their bases in the typical shape of small flying saucers, the views of the landscape minutely depicted in the Flemish style, the figures arranged with particular balance in the evident crowding.