Lorenzo Monaco's Crucifixion

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The following paper is a formal analysis of an Italian panel entitled The Crucifixion, by Lorenzo Monaco. The panel was created near the end of the fourteenth century roughly between, 1392—1395 and is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. According to the label identifying this work, this was a processional cross that was used during religious ceremonies in Florence, Italy. One thing to understand is that religious devotion was shown in many different ways throughout these times and the Christians were among those who practiced extreme devotion through the use of material objects that represented religious figures and other icons. There is a strong sense of symbolism in this piece, which is common in artwork produced in the fourteenth century that exemplifies the specialized meaning of the devotional practice associated with Christian iconography.
To understand the connection devotees have to the cross, one must dissect the depicted scene, which is decorated, vibrant and also immediately catches the viewer’s eye to idealize the gruesome suffering that the artist believed Christ went through while on the cross. Religious iconography like Monaco’s Crucifixion, serves as a way of symbolizing nobility thus being identified as a way of venerating holy figures. The artist used tempera as a medium by mixing egg yolk with color pigments on a decorative quatrefoil panel that measures 57.3 x 28 centimeters with the frame and 51 x 23.3 centimeters counting the painted surface alone. The scene on the panel itself is an intense and realistic representation of Christ’s crucifixion and through meticulous detail and stark contrasts in color, helps draws focus to his painful death in an emotional way. At first glance, the viewer’...

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...standing of the compositions correct meaning.
The scene depicted here is decorated and vibrant also, this piece immediately catches the viewer’s eye to idealize the gruesome suffering that the artist believed Christ went through while on the cross. It is through this act of veneration to these relics that honor and glory is paid and the supposed “spirit of Christ” is received. Also of note, there is a considerable amount of devotion paid to this processional cross during service that is attributed to the idealized representation of Christ during his crucifixion. Among early Christian iconography, Monaco’s devotional panel facilitates worship through its connection with its viewers. Additionally, through the depiction of Christ’s heightened sense of suffering in religious iconography–such as the Crucifixion–an intimate link is created with worshippers who view it.

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