Painted Crucifix

The finest detail here is also the easiest to miss. Look at the halo around Christ's head. It stands out from the surface in gilded gesso, and while the gesso was still soft a thin cord was pressed into it to shape the vine tendrils and grape leaves that curl across it. Bernardo Daddi painted this cross between about 1340 and 1345 for San Donato in Polverosa, a Florentine monastery. The Virgin and Saint John grieve on either side of the body. At the top is the Last Judgement, with Christ in an almond-shaped glory while angels sort the souls. The other ends of the cross show the Mocking of Christ, the Flagellation and the Road to Calvary. After the religious houses were suppressed in the 19th century it passed to the Uffizi, and in 1919 it came to the Accademia.