Crucifix 432 with stories of the Passion and Redemption

This may be the oldest painting in the entire Uffizi, made around 1200 by a Tuscan hand we cannot name. The painter has, in fact, no name of his own. Scholars call him the Master of Cross 432, after the inventory number of this very object, so the work ended up naming the artist. Christ hangs on the cross, yet he is not the suffering figure of later centuries. His eyes are open, alert and calm, the image of Christ triumphant over death that came before the broken, grieving Christ of Gothic art. Down both sides of the upright run small scenes read from the top down, the washing of the feet, the kiss of Judas, the flagellation, the road to Calvary, the descent into limbo. It was made to hang high in a church, a painted cross that laid out the whole Passion at a glance.