The Crucifixion with Saints
- Artist: Bernardo Daddi
- Date: 1348
- Medium: tempera on panel, integral frame gabled top
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the “The Crucifixion with Saints” by Bernardo Daddi. The work is a striking polyptych that forms the central part of a larger altarpiece originally created for the Church of San Giorgio a Ruballa, just outside Florence. A brief inscription below the main panel records Daddi’s name and the date, placing the painting right before his death from the plague in 1348. That timing gives the piece an almost prophetic weight, especially considering its subject.
During Mass the altarpiece would have been a focal point, visually communicating Christ’s sacrifice and the redemption of humanity. Daddi amplified this narrative by making the saints flanking the cross noticeably larger, guiding the viewer’s eye to the central drama. Contemporary observers praised his delicate, detailed touch: the Virgin Mary, visibly fainting at the foot of the cross, and the soldiers—intentionally portrayed as gambling with Christ’s tunic—highlight the tension and humanity of the scene.
The canvas is executed in tempera on panel, with a solid integral frame that rises to a gabled top, adding a sculptural finish to the painted narrative. All in all, this piece exemplifies Daddi’s mastery as the leading painter of his era and his confidence in asserting authorship through both inscription and artistic detail.
See it in person
The Crucifixion with Saints hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
More from The Courtauld Gallery
Crucifixion (right panel) (recto)Magus adoring the Infant Christ; and Bishop (right panel) (verso)Two Evangelists; The Virgin of the Annunciation (above)
Nativity (left panel) (recto)Two Magi and bishop (left panel) (verso)Two Evangelists; The Angel of the Annunciation (above)
Saint Peter
Saints Bartholomew and George (left panel) (recto)Imitation marble panel and two female angels (verso)An Evangelist (gable)