Crucifx in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2009

Title: Crucifix

Date: ca. 1200-1220

Culture: North Italian

Medium: Wood with polychrony

Dimensions: Overall: 75 1/2 x 81 in. (191.8 x 205.7 cm)

Classification: Sculpture-Wood

Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1947

Accession Number: 47.100.54

On View

Description:

Rather than emphasizing his pain and suffering on the cross, this dignified carving presents Christ in glory, alive and with eyes wide open. He wears a full-length belted tunic (colobium) signifying his kingly and priestly nature. The crucifix here, a type known as the Volto Santo (Holy Face), is a copy of a sculpture in Lucca, Italy, that was likely made in the 700s. Medieval legend, however, held that the work in Lucca was made by Nicodemus, a disciple of Jesus who witnessed the Crucifixion.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/mediev...