Crucifixion

Stylistically very close to the Prato frescoes is a group of paintings whose attribution to Uccello is controversial. Among them we can find the Crucifixion in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Madrid.

The this little Crucifixion the characters are very close to the Prato frescoes. The Madonna, next to the cross, has the same graceful movements, rather like a ballerina, as the handmaid to the left in the fresco of the Birth of the Virgin.

The unusual, elongated composition, depicting the crucified Christ with the Virgin and Sts John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and Francis, suggests that it may have formed part of a predella.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 22 minutes):

Guillaume Dufay: Hymns