Crocifissione

A Pisa chapel hired the young Masaccio for this in February 1426, part of a large altarpiece that was broken up and scattered in the 1700s. This Crucifixion sat at the very top, meant to be seen from well below, so Masaccio painted it for that angle. Christ's head sinks heavy into the chest and the shoulders hunch, the way the body would look to someone standing at the altar and gazing up. He kept the old gold sky, a medieval sign of holy ground, but everything in front of it carries real weight. The strongest figure is Mary Magdalene, seen from behind at the foot of the cross, arms flung wide in a scarlet cloak that spills across the gold.