Description
The Crucifixion in the left transept of the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi is one of Cimabue's most important monumental compositions and one of the culminating achievements of his mature period. Conceived as part of the extensive decorative program of the Franciscan church, it transforms the death of Christ into a scene of exceptional dramatic intensity, combining the monumentality inherited from Byzantine tradition with an increasing concern for movement, emotion and physical presence.
Christ occupies the absolute centre of the composition. His body bends laterally upon the cross and appears subjected to the physical weight of suffering, developing with greater freedom solutions that Cimabue had already explored in his monumental painted crucifixes. Alterations in some pigments have darkened parts of the fresco. Its present appearance must therefore be distinguished from the colours Cimabue originally intended.
