Attributed to Donatello and his Workshop
The Crucifixion
ca. 1460-66
Stucco on wood with remnants of a complete gilding
53.5 x 44.5 cm (with frame)
36.5 x 26.5 cm (without)
The frame is original.
Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Skulpturensammlung, Inv. SKS 53.
Bode-Museum, storage.
Provenance
Florence, Charles Fairfax Murray (before 1883); Berlin, Skulpturensammlung/Altes Museum (1883-1904); Berlin, Skulpturensammlung/Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (1904-1939); Berlin, storage (1939-1945); Merkers, storage (1945); Wiesbaden, Central Collecting Point (1945-1956); West Berlin, Skulpturensammlung/Museum Dahlem (1956-1997); Berlin, storage (1997-2006); Berlin, Skulpturensammlung/Bode-Museum (since 2006).
Acquisition
Bought in Florence in 1883 from Charles Fairfax Murray for 5,950 Italian lire, together with Inv. SKS 145 (Man of Sorrows) and Inv. SKS 279 (bronze Horse), and four unidentified plaquettes. Acquisition file (1096/83) in the Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin.
Bibliography
Wilhelm Bode, “Die italienischen Skulpturen der Renaissance in den Königlichen Museen zu Berlin. III”, Jahrbuch der Königlich preußischen Kunstsammlungen, V, 1884, pp. 41-42: workshop of Donatello, after a lost original (possibly in terracotta); close to the pulpits of San Lorenzo, Florence.
Wilhelm Bode, Italienische Bildhauer der Renaissance. Studien zur Geschichte der italienischen Plastik und Malerei auf Grund der Bildwerke und Gemälde in den Königl. Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, W. Speemann, 1887, pp. 30-31: ancient copy after a lost model by Donatello, in the period of the pulpits of San Lorenzo in Florence; the red frame is authentic.
Wilhelm Bode and Hugo von Tschudi, Königliche Museen zu Berlin. Beschreibung der Bildwerke der Christlichen Epoche, Berlin, W. Spemann, 1888, p. 16 cat. 41: after a model by Donatello, in the period of the pulpits of San Lorenzo in Florence.
August Schmarsow, review of Bode and Tschudi 1888, Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, XII, 1889, p. 206: not Donatello, as it differs from the San Lorenzo pulpits.
Max Semrau, Donatellos Kanzeln in S. Lorenzo. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der italienieschen Plastik im XV. Jahrhundert, Breslau, Schottlaender, 1891, p. 79 note 1: pupil of Donatello, same artist as the Medici Crucifixion in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, and the San Lorenzo pulpits. Stucco version after a model by Donatello.
Lord Balcarres, Donatello, London and New York, Duckworth & Co. and Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1903, p. 178: genuine sketch by Donatello himself, “sadly injured since its acquisition”; compared to the Forzori Altar in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Inv. 7619:1 to 3-1861).
Frida Schottmüller, Donatello. Ein Beitrag zum Verständnis seiner künstlerischen Tat, Munich, F. Bruckmann, 1904, pp. 76, 90, 125.
Maud Cruttwell, Donatello, London, Methuen, 1911, p. 68: “rough sketch” by Donatello; close to Christ Giving the Keys to St Peter in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Inv. 7629-1861), with the “same admirable effect of distance and space”.
Frida Schottmüller, Die italienischen und spanischen Bildwerke der Renaissance und des Barocks in Marmor, Ton, Holz und Stuck, Berlin, Georg Reimer, 1913, p. 15 cat. 29: after Donatello; from a sketch by Donatello in his late period; the head of the Virgin was lost when the work was at the Altes Museum, Berlin.
Arduino Colasanti, Donatello, French trans., Paris, Crès, 1931, pl. CXI: Donatello, mid 1430s, close to the great Crucifixion by Fra Angelico in the convent of San Marco, Florence.
Frida Schottmüller, Die italienischen und spanischen Bildwerke der Renaissance und des Barock. Erster Band. Die Bildwerke in Stein, Holz, Ton und Wachs, Zweite Auflage, Berlin and Leipzig, Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1933, p. 9: Donatello?; probably after a sketch by the artist in his later years; the Virgin’s head was lost when the relief was at the Altes Museum.
Hans Kauffmann, Donatello.
Entstehungsort stilistisch: Florenz
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