Crucifix. Lombardy second half of the 17th century

Crucifix
Lombardy, second half of the 17th century
Bronze, iron, and wood
Sculpture: 33 cm height x 35 cm width x 10 cm depth at the knees;
Cross: 42.12 in height x 19.68 in width (107 cm x 50);
Base: 13.38 in height x 13.58 in width x 7.08 in depth. (34 cm x 34.5 x 18)
Total dimensions: 54.33 in height x 19.68 in width x 7.08 in depth (138 cm x 50 x 18)
Weight: 18.07 lb (8.2 kg)

State of conservation: some signs of wear on the bronze patina, a dent on the halo.

The sculpture depicts Christ dead on the cross, with his head tilted to the right and his arms stretched upwards and to the side. The body is positioned frontally with the right leg slightly twisted at the knees. The loincloth is very minimal and gathered on the right with a knotted cord. The head is surmounted by an iron halo fixed by a nail. The wound from the spear that pierced Christ after his death, as well as the drops of blood and water that flowed from it, are reproduced on his side. The face is delicately modelled with defined features, closed eyes and mouth, and beard and moustache. The hair, parted in the middle, falls in long strands forward and down the back to the right.

The crucifix model can be traced back to some works designed by Guglielmo Della Porta (ca. 1515-1577), a sculptor, architect, and restorer of Italian Mannerism, who was trained in Genoa and Rome. He was a disciple of Michelangelo and later a sculptor at the Farnese court.
Over time, this model was attributed to Giambologna (1529-1608), who was active in the creation of crucifixes around the 1570s. This is an idea that still has various supporters (Michael Riddick, Reconstituting a Crucifix by Guglielmo Della Porta and his Colleagues. The "Great School" of Guglielmo Della Porta, Part 2, 2017 link).

More recent studies, instead, follow a different path to reconstruct the history of this sculpture and tell us with certainty that in 1569 Alessandro Farnese (1520-89) requested that Guglielmo Della Porta produce "some crucifixes in solid silver and other gilded metals" for St. Peter's Basilica (Anna Beatriz Chadour, The Altar Set by Antonio Gentili in St. Peter's, Rome. Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, vol. 43, 1982, pp. 133-193). Guglielmo's workshop was one of the most active at the time, as confirmed by the large number of crucifixes inventoried at the time of his death in 1577: the list includes at least 58 examples, in various stages of production, ranging from 22 to about 70 centimeters in size (Rosario Coppel, Catalogue (Christ Crucified). Guglielmo Della Porta, A Counter-Reformation Sculptor, Madrid 2012, pp. 62-73).

In well-organized workshops, it was customary for much of the production of replicas to be entrusted to the master's collaborators and pupils. It is very likely that this was also the case in Guglielmo's workshop, where it is possible to find various examples starting from one of his prototypes and resulting in inevitable, and at times great, variations

Among the works of artists who collaborated with the master, the model closest to ours seems to be that of Antonio Gentili da Faenza, the presumed author of the example kept in the Apostolic Palace of the Sanctuary of Loreto.

The corpus of works associated with the Loreto crucifix also includes the model conceived by Guglielmo in 1571 for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and later elaborated by Gentili, as evidenced by some epistolary documents (State Archive of Naples cited in Rosario Coppel, Guglielmo Della Porta in Rome. Guglielmo Della Porta, A Counter-Reformation Sculptor. Madrid 2012, pp. 28-57).

In this regard, it has been noted how in the Farnese altar cross in the Vatican, Gentili's finishing can be seen in some evident variations from Della Porta's original design: for example, in the circular shape of Christ's umbilicus (triangular in Della Porta's model), in the treatment of the hair, the shape of the hands, and especially the loincloth, which is completely reworked and draped at the back of Christ's right leg.

Therefore, Guglielmo's prototype, perfected and cast by Gentili, proves that the Loreto crucifix is not an invention of Giambologna, but represents one of the many workshop variants based on Guglielmo's Crucifix of 1571 for Alessandro Farnese in the Vatican (Michael Riddick, op. cit., p. 15).

The model of Christ on the cross by Della Porta and its variants have had great success over time, becoming one of the most widely used templates to meet the demands of religious commissions and private devotion.

The work in question rests on an important ebonized wooden base, which, in morphology and style, can be associated with Lombard production of the 17th century or the early 18th. The style of the base is evidently found in decorative formulas that are repeated in the architectural plinths of the cornices of palaces or in the brackets of Lombard churches up to the decorative components of contemporary furniture and objects. This style, in our opinion, is consistent with the crucifix and in harmony with the dictates of the Council of Trent, now fully embraced, which supported a new form of art suitable for promoting the message of the Christian Catholic Church, even through beauty and a certain, often theatrical, decorativeness.

Bibliography:

- Michael Riddick, Reconstituting a Crucifix by Guglielmo Della Porta and his Colleagues. The “Great School” of Guglielmo Della Porta, Part 2, reconstituting-a-crucifix-by-guglielmo-della-porta-and-his-colleagues/, and related bibliography;
- Rosario Coppel, Guglielmo Della Porta in Rome. Guglielmo Della Porta, A Counter- Reformation Sculptor. Coll & Cortés 2012;
- Werner Gramberg, Sechs Sammler Stellen Aus. Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Amburgo, 1961, No. 43;
- Werner Gramberg, Das Kalvarienbergrelief des Guglielmo Della Porta und seine Silber-gold-Ausführung von Antonio Gentili da Faenza. Intution und Kunstwissenschaft. Festschrift für Hans Swarzenski. Berlin 1973;
- Werner Gramberg, Notizen zu den Kruzifixen des Guglielmo Della Porta und zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Hochaltarkreuzes in S. Pietro in Vaticano In Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst vol. 32, 1981;
- Ulrich Middeldorf, Palazzo Vecchio: committenza e collezionismo medicei, Firenze e la Toscana dei Medici nell ‘Europa del Cinque cento. Firenze 1980. N. 674;
- Anna Beatriz Chadour (1982): Der Altarsatz des Antonio Gentili in St. Peter zu Rom. Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, vol. 43.