"The Great Crucifixion"
by Cimabue in Assisi

The great Crucifixion of the southern transept in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi is probably the most pathos-rich painting in the entire work by Cenni di Pepo, known as Cimabue. Here, around 1280, Cimabue decisively departs from the iconographic fixity of Byzantine painting which had been imposing frontal and stylized figures, devoid of naturalism and plasticity for many centuries. These figures intended to enhance the sacredness and supernatural abstraction of the subjects depicted. For the first time in the history of art, everything in this large fresco tells us about a real and painful humanity: the astonished expressions of the faces, the tension of the bodies, the geometric position of the figures that converge towards the figure of Christ. It is that Christus Patiens bent in pain who dominates the centre of the scene. At his feet St. Francis bows down: it is the Alter Christus who reminds the priests his mission and theirs. Among the numerous figures, Mary and John stand out, on the left side, united in a gesture of compassionate affection, a desperate Magdalene with her arms towards Christ and, on the right, Saint Longinus, the Roman soldier stretching his spear towards Christ's side in a pitiful gesture. Time has not been kind to this magnificent work. The lead white, used in the mixing of light colours, has oxidized over the centuries leading to an inversion of light colours and partially transforming the painting into a sort of photographic negative. In addition to this, abrasive phenomena and washouts have canceled parts of the painting, without however completely hiding its great expressive power.