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Gallery Text

The original function of this tiny painting, executed with the refinement of an illumination, is unclear. The jewel-like image shows the figure of the crucified Christ alone, heightening the beholder’s empathy and engagement with his suffering. This delicate painting may have been made during the final period of the artist’s life, which Simone spent in the papal court at Avignon in France. His sophisticated circle of friends and patrons there, including the poet Petrarch and high-ranking members of the curia, would certainly have responded to its refined elegance.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1919.51
People
Simone Martini, Italian (c. 1284 - 1344)
Title
Christ on the Cross
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
c. 1340
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Italy, Tuscany, Siena
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/232070

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Tempera and gold on panel
Dimensions
25 x 13.6 cm (9 13/16 x 5 3/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Léon Bonnat, Paris, by 1909. [Gimpel & Wildenstein], sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1919

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Hervey E. Wetzel Bequest Fund
Accession Year
1919
Object Number
1919.51
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Bernard Berenson, The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance, G. P. Putnam's Sons (New York, 1909), p. 252
  • Collection of Mediaeval and Renaissance Paintings, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1919), p. 325, repr. as frontispiece
  • George Harold Edgell, "Two Sienese Paintings in American Museums", Art in America (1920), vol. 8, pp. 103-107, pp. 103-107, repr. as fig. 1
  • Raimond Van Marle, Simone Martini et les peintres de son école, J. H. ED. Heitz (Strasbourg, 1920), p. 80
  • Ella S. Siple, The Fogg Museum at Harvard, The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs (June 1927), Vol. 50, No. 291, pp. 309, repr as Plate II, A
  • Curt H. Weigelt, Sienese Painting of the Trecento, Harcourt, Brace and Co. (New York, 1930), pp. 82, 95
  • William Germain Dooley, "[Review] Cleveland Opens Great Exhibition of Old Masters: Official Art Display of Great Lakes Exposition Rivals Two Chicago Shows", Boston Transcript (June 27, 1936), p. 14
  • "Dooley Perceives Art Appreciation Moving to West: Transcript Editor Points to Cleveland Painting Exhibit as Evidence", Boston Transcript (Boston, July 23, 1936)
  • Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibition of the Great Lakes Exposition, exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, 1936), pp. 57-58, cat. no. 132, repr. as plate XIV
  • Aldo de Rinaldis, Simone Martini, Fratelli Palombi Editori (Rome, 1936), pp. 62-63
  • Fiske Kimball and Lionello Venturi, Great Paintings in America: One Hundred and One Masterpieces in Color, Coward McCann (New York, 1948), pp. 22-23, no. 4, repr.
  • Wildenstein Jubilee Loan Exhibtion, 1901-1951: Masterpieces from Museums and Private Collections, exh. cat., Wildenstein & Company (New York, 1951), cat. no. 1, repr.
  • Evelyn Sandberg Vavalà, Simone Martini, Electa Editrice (Florence, 1952), cat. no. 43, repr.
  • Giovanni Paccagnini, Simone Martini, Aldo Martello Editore (1955), pp. 121, 123, repr. as fig. 31
  • S. Lane Faison, Jr., A Guide to the Art Museums of New England, Harcourt, Brace and Co. (New York, 1958), p. 113, repr. as no. 4
  • Emilio Lavagnino, L'Arte Medioevale, Unione Tipografico-Editrice (1960), vol. 2, p. 747
  • Maria Cristina Gozzoli, L'opera completa di Simone Martini, Rizzoli Editore (Milan, 1970), p. 106, cat. no. 58
  • Ferdinando Bologna, Simone Martini, Fratelli Fabbri Editori (Milan, 1970), p. 106, repr. as fig. 2
  • Edward Waldo Forbes, Yankee Visionary, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1971), p. 4
  • Burton B. Fredericksen and Federico Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1972), p. 122
  • Everett Fahy, "Italian Painting Before 1500", Apollo (May 1978), vol. 107, no. 195, pp. 377-388, p. 382-383, repr. p. 382 as pl.1
  • Charles Sterling, Enguerrand Quatron: Le peintre de la Pieta d'Avignon, Editions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux (Paris, 1983), pp. 119-121, repr. p. 121 as fig. 121
  • Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), no. 159, p. 141, repr.
  • Pierluigi Leone de Castris, "Problemi Martiniani Avignoesi: il 'Maestro delgi Angeli Ribelli,' i due Ceccarelli ed altro", Simone Martini: Atti del Convegno (Florence, 1988), pp. 225-231, pp. 225, 230, repr. p. 225 as fig. 1
  • Pierluigi Leone de Castris, Simone Martini: Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Cantini Editore (Florence, 1989), pp. 128-129, cat. no. 30, repr. p. 129
  • Edgar Peters Bowron, European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum: A Summary Catalogue including Paintings in the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), pp. 129, 282, repr. b/w cat. no. 484
  • Marco Pierini, Simone Martini, Cinisello Balsamo (Milan, Italy, 2000), pp. 220-221, repr. in color
  • Hayden B.J. Maginnis, The World of the Early Sienese Painter, Pennsylvania State University Press (University Park, PA, 2001), p. 109; repr. as fig. 68
  • Chikashi Kitazaki and Mina Oya, ed., Between Reality and Dreams: Nineteenth Century British and French Art from the Winthrop Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., National Museum of Western Art (Ueno, 2002), p. 14, repr. as fig. 3
  • Pierluigi Leone de Castris, Simone Martini, Federico Motta Editore (Milan, Italy, 2003), pp. 250-251, repr. with detail; note p. 364
  • Kathryn Brush, Vastly More than Brick and Mortar: Reinventing the Fogg Art Museum in the 1920s, Harvard University Art Museums/Yale University Press (Cambridge MA / New Haven, CT, 2003), p. 35, repr. in b/w as fig. 14
  • Carl Brandon Strehlke, Italian Paintings 1250-1450 in the John G. Johnson Collection and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA, 2004), p. 340; repr. p. 341 as fig. 61.2
  • Joanna Cannon, Caroline Campbell, and Stephan Wolohojian, ed., Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350, exh. cat., National Gallery (New York, 2024), pp. 266, 276, fig. 214

Exhibition History

  • The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibition of the Great Lakes Exposition, Cleveland Museum of Art, 06/26/1936 - 10/04/1936
  • Wildenstein Jubilee Loan Exhibition, 1901-1951: Masterpieces from Museums and Private Collections, Wildenstein & Company, 11/08/1951 - 12/15/1951
  • Master Paintings from the Fogg Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/13/1977 - 08/31/1977
  • Re-View: S422-423 Western Art of the Middle Ages & Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/16/2008 - 06/18/2011
  • 32Q: 2500 Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 07/11/2024
  • Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 10/13/2024 - 01/26/2025; National Gallery, London, 03/08/2025 - 06/22/2025

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights
  • Google Art Project

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu