Terms and conditions of use
Crucifixion
1801
Medium
oil on canvas on canvas
Measurements
60.7 × 48.7 cm irreg. (image) 62.5 × 51.5 cm (canvas)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Kenneth Reed through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2016
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The early nineteenth century witnessed a revival of the seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish tradition of trompe l’oeil paintings, exemplified in France by Louis-Léopold Boilly and in Italy by the lesser-known painter and architect Prospero Mallerini. Whereas Boilly’s visual trickery often involves humour, Mallerini used illusionism to heighten religious experience. The figure in the print is the thirteenth-century visionary nun Saint Gertrude, who saw herself as the bride of Christ. The figure of Christ is probably based on an actual corpus by a Baroque sculptor, such as François Duquesnoy or Alessandro Algardi. A small-format devotional subject such as this was possibly intended for a domestic shrine.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
(Rome), Italy
Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.c.r.: P. M(…illeg.)llerini (…illeg.) 1801
Accession Number
2016.383
Department
International Painting
Subjects (general)
Religion and Mythology Still Lifes
Subjects (specific)
crucifixes devotional images (religious works) illusionism Jesus Christ (Christian character) plank (wood) saints tassel trompe-l'oeil