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Home>Collection>The Crucifixion with the Virgin, Saint John, Saint Jerome, and Saint Mary Magdalene [right panel]

Overview

Pietro Vannucci, called Perugino after the city in which he often lived, collaborated with other celebrated painters in one of the most prestigious commissions of the late fifteenth century -- the decoration of the walls of the Sistine Chapel in 1481-1482. He headed active workshops in Perugia and Florence, where he would eventually be overshadowed by his greatest pupil, Raphael.

Perugino's Crucifixion with Saints, painted for a chapel in the Dominican church in San Gimignano near Siena, shows Christ hanging on the cross with Mary and Saint John the Evangelist at his feet. In the two side panels, Saint Jerome with his lion, and Mary Magdalene gaze up at the figure of Christ. However, the work does not attempt to depict the actual event or place, but is a visual meditation on the theme of the Crucifixion. The serene mood is reflected in the landscape, which also reveals the influence of Flemish painting which had recently been introduced into Florence.

From the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century Perugino's Crucifixion was thought to be the work of his pupil Raphael. When it was discovered that the donor of the triptych died in 1497, when Raphael would have been only fourteen, Perugino's authorship once again became clear.

Provenance

Probably commissioned by Bartolommeo Bartoli (or di Bartolo), Bishop of Cagli [d. 1497];[1] by gift from him to the church of San Domenico, San Gimignano; seized 1796/1797 by Napoleonic troops; acquired 1796/1797 by Dr. Buzzi, and sold soon thereafter to Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Galitzin [1772-1821], Russian ambassador to Rome; by inheritance to his son, Theodore Alexandrovich Galitzin [d. 1848], Palazzo Galitzin, Rome; by inheritance to his nephew, Sergei Mikhailovich Galitzin [1843-1915], Moscow; displayed from 1865 at the Museum of Western European Painting of Prince S.M. Galitzin, Moscow;[2] purchased 1886 with the Galitzin collection by the Imperial Hermitage Gallery, St. Petersburg; purchased April 1931 through (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London and New York; and M. Knoedler & Co., New York and London) by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 5 June 1931 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[3] gift 1937 to NGA.

[1] The frame on the painting is modern and thus the coats-of-arms decorating it have no bearing on the provenance.

[2] A.A. Vasilchikoff, "The Artworks of Raphael in Russsia," Viestnik iziashnych iskusstv [Fine Arts Herald] I, no. 3 (1883): 390-393, provides this history of ownership. He also notes that Buzzi had the French artist Baron François Xavier Fabre treat the picture, and that after Theodore Galitzin's death, the painting languished in a storage closet of his palace until 1862. According to Brüiningk and Somov (E. Brüiningk and Andrei Ivanovich Somov, Ermitage Impérial. Catalogue de la Galerie des Tableaux. Les Écoles d'Italie et d'Espagne, St. Petersburg, 1891: 134), a Livornese painter named Gazzarini offered a somewhat different account of the pre-Galitzin ownership of the picture, which cannot today be substantiated. See also R.P. Gray, "The Golitsyn and Kushelev-Bezborodko Collections and their Role in the Evolution of Public Art Collections in Russia," Oxford Slavonic Papers n.s. 31 (1998): 54-57 [51-67].

[3] Mellon purchase date and date deeded to Mellon Trust are according to Mellon collection files in NGA curatorial records and David Finley's notebook (donated to the National Gallery of Art in 1977, now in the Gallery Archives).

Exhibition History

1983
Raphael and America, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1983, no. 52, pl. 7.
2002
The Flowering of Florence, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2002, no. 4, repro.
2004
Golitzyn Museum in Volkhonka Street, State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 2004.
2023
Il meglio maestro d’Italia: Perugino e il suo tempo, Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia, 2023, no. II.8, repro.

Bibliography

1695
Coppi, Giovanni Vincenzo. Annali, memorie ed huomini illustri di San Gimignano. 2 vols. Florence, 1695: 2:80.
1768
Targioni Tozzetti, Giovanni. Relazioni d’alcuni viaggi fatti in derverse parti della Toscana. 12 vols. 2nd ed. Florence, 1768-1779: 8(1775):266.
1829
Quatremère de Quincy [Antoine Chrysostôme]. Istoria della vita e delle opere di Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino. Trans and ed. Francesco Longhena. Milan, 1829: 7: 7 n., as by Raphael.
1839
Rosini, Giovanni. Storia della pittura italiana esposta coi monumenti. 7 vols. in 9 parts. Pisa, 1839-1855: 1(1839-1840):pl.70, as by Perugino and Raphael; 4(1843):21.
1853
Pecori, Luigi. Storia della Terra di San Gimignano. Florence, 1853: 521.
1864
Jameson, Anna Brownwell. The History of Our Lord as Exemplified in Works of Art. Completed by Lady Eastlake. 2 vols. London, 1864: 2:154-155.
1882
Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle. Raphael. His Life and His Works. 2 vols. London, 1882-1885: 1(1882):132 n.
1883
Vasilchikoff, A. A. “The Artworks of Raphael in Russia.” Viestnik iziashnych iskusstv 1, no. 3 (1883): 390-393, as by Raphael.
1884
Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle. Rafaello. La Sua Vita e Le Sue Opere. 3 vols. Florence, 1884-1891: 1(1884):133 n.
1885
Müntz, Eugène. “Sur une crucifixion attribuée a Raphael au Musée Galitzin à Moscou.” La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité: Supplément de la Gazette des Beaux-Arts 27 (8 August 1885): 212-213.
1887
D’Annunzio, Gabriele. “Cronaca d’arte.” La Tribuna (19 January 1887). Reprinted in Gabriele D’Annunzio. Le cronache de La Tribuna. Ed. Ruggero Puletti. 2 vols. Bologna, 1992: 1:816-817.
1887
“Domestic News.” Khudozhestvennyia novosti, supp. to Viestnik iziashnych iskusstv 5, no. 10 (15 May 1887): 285-288.
1887
“Domestic News.” Khudozhestvennyia novosti, supp. to Viestnik iziashnych iskusstv 5, no. 12 (15 June 1887): 340-341, repro.
1891
Brüiningk, E., and Andrei Somof. Eremitage Impérial. Catalogue de la Galerie des Tableaux. Les Écoles d’Italie et d’Espagne. St Petersburg, 1891: xxiii, 131-135, cat. 1666, as by Raphael.
1896
Harck, Fritz. “Notizen über Italienische Bilder in petersburger Sammlungen.” Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 19 (1896): 417-418.
1896
The Hermitage. Eighty-Four Photogravures Directly Reproduced from the Original Paintings in the Imperial Gallery at St. Petersburg. Intro. by Sir Martin Conway. London, 1896: 7, pl. 31, as by Raphael.
1899
Phillips, Claude. “The Picture Gallery of the Hermitage.” The North American Review 169, no. 4 (October 1899): 460.
1899
Somov, Andrei Ivanovich. Ermitage Impérial. Catalogue de la Galerie des Tableaux. Les Écoles d’Italie et d’Espagne, 2nd ed. St. Petersburg, 1899: 106-109, cat. 1666, as by Raphael.
1900
Pesciolini, Ugo Nomi. Le glorie della Terra di San Gimignano. Siena, 1900: 27, 57 n. 103.
1901
Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell’arte italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 7, part 2(1913):502-504, fig. 380.
1904
Rosenberg, Adolf. Raffael: Des Meisters Gemälde. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1904: XI, pl. 5, as by Raphael.
1904
Williamson, G. C. “The Collection of Pictures in the Hermitage Palace at St. Petersburg. Part II.” Connoisseur 10, no. 40 (December 1904): 197-198, repro.
1908
Pesciolini, Ugo Nomi. “Le vicende di un quadro attribuito a Raffaello Sanzio.” Le Marche 8 (1908): 147-155.
1908
Rosenberg, Adolf. Raffael: Des Meisters Gemälde. 4th ed. Leipzig and Stuttgart, 1908. Reprinted 1909: 252, fig. 212.
1909
Berenson, Bernard. The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance. 2nd ed. New York, 1909: 222.
1909
Néoustroïeff, A. “La Crocifissione di San Gimignano nel Museo Imperiale dell’Ermitage.” L’Arte 12 (March-April 1909): 119-132, repro.
1909
Oppé, Adolf. Raphael. London, 1909: 25, 226.
1909
Somof, Andrei. Ermitage Impérial. Catalogue de la galerie des tableaux, Vol. 1: Les écoles d’Italie et d’Espagne. Saint Petersburg, 1909: 108-111, cat. 1666, repro., as by Raphael.
1909
Wrangell, Baron Nicolas. Les Chefs-d'Oeuvre de la Galérie de Tableaux de l'Hermitage Impérial à St-Pétersbourg. London, 1909: vi, pl. 8.
1914
Van Dyke, John C. St. Petersburg: Critical Notes on the Hermitage. New York, 1914: 56.
1916
The Imperial Hermitage Museum. A Brief Catalog of the Picture Gallery. Petrograd, 1916: 105.
1921
Marri, Ezio. S. Gimignano. Guida. Florence, 1921: 14.
1923
Gnoli, Umberto. Pietro Perugino. Spoleto, 1923: 30-31, 65, pl. 7.
1923
Gnoli, Umberto. Pittori e miniatori nell’Umbria. Spoleto, 1923: 264-265.
1923
Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 14(1933):333-334.
1923
Weiner, P. P. von. Meisterwerke der Gemäldesammlung in der Eremitage zu Petrograd. Munich, 1923: 12, pl. 23.
1924
The Masterpieces of Raphael. London and Glasgow, 1924: 68.
1924
Venturi, Adolfo. L’arte a San Girolamo. Milan, 1924: 178, fig. 144.
1925
Conway, Martin. Art Treasures in Soviet Russia. London, 1925: 156.
1925
Venturi, Adolfo. Grandi artisti italiani. Bologna, 1925: 203-204.
1931
Canuti, Fiorenzo. Il Perugino. 2 vols. Siena, 1931: 1:80-81.
1932
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932: 437.
1935
Bertini-Casosso, Achille. "Perugino." In Enciclopedia Italiana. 36 vols. Rome, 1929-1939. Rome, 1935: 26:pl. 219
1936
Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936: 378.
1937
Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: 8, 14.
1941
Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 148-149, no. 27.
1942
Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 239, repro. 164.
1942
Mather, Frank Jewett. "The Widener Collection at Washington." Magazine of Art 35 (October 1942): 195, as by Raphael.
1945
“Italian Paintings in the Andrew W. Mellon Collection.” Connoisseur 115, no. 496 (June 1945): 115, 117-118, repro.
1949
Gamba, Carlo. Pittura umbra del Rinascimento: Raffaello. Novara, 1949: xxxiii.
1949
Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 25, repro.
1951
Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 54-57, repro.
1952
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 36, color repro.
1955
Mazzoni, Mario. S. Gimignano. Siena, 1955: 38.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 23.
1957
Taylor, Joshua C. Learning to Look: A Handbook for the Visual Arts. Chicago, 1957: 9, 43-57.
1959
Camesasca, Ettore. Tutta la pittura del Perugino. Milan, 1959: 54-55, pl. 37.
1959
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Early Italian Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number Three in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 32, color repro., as The Crucifixion with Saints.
1960
The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 24.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 88, repro.
1965
Negri Arnoldi, Francesco. Perugino. I Maestri del colore. Milan, 1965: fig. 8.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 100.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:122, color repro.
1968
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:333. 3:pl.1097.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 88, repro.
1969
Camesasca, Ettore. L’opera completa del Perugino. Milan, 1969: 90, cat. 22.
1969
Hartt, Frederick. History of Italian Renaissance Art. New York, 1969: 325-326.
1970
Oppé, Adolf. Raphael. Rev. ed. edited by Charles Mitchell. New York, 1970: 25, fig. 36.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 161, 645.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 262, repro.
1976
Laclotte, Michel, and Elisabeth Mognetti. Avignon, Musée du Petit Palais: peinture italienne. 2nd ed. Paris, 1976: under no. 280.
1976
Zeri, Federico. Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery. 2 vols. Baltimore, 1976: 1:174.
1977
Levi d'Ancona, Mirella. The Garden of the Renaissance: Botanical Symbolism in Italian Painting. Florence, 1977: 33, 73-74, 105, 175, 187-188, 322, 398.
1979
Hartt, Frederick. History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. 2nd ed. New York, 1979: 372-373, fig. 411.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:360-361; 2:pl. 259.
1979
Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 32, pl. 15.
1980
Ewing, Dan. “A New Crucifixion by Jan de Beer.” Jaarboeck Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten-Antwerpen (1980): 56-58, fig. 10.
1980
Friedmann, Herbert. A Bestiary for Saint Jerome: Animal Symbolism in European Religious Art. Washington, DC, 1980: 278, figs. 66, 180.
1984
Gualdi Sabatini, Fausta. “La pale di Perugino.” In Pittura a Fano 1480-1550. Exh. cat. Chiesa di Santa Maria Nuova and Palazzo Malatestiano, Fano, 1984: 22.
1984
Pittura a Fano 1480-1550. Exh. cat. Chiesa di Santa Maria Nuova and Palazzo Malatestiano, Fano 1984: 25.
1984
Scarpellini, Pietro. Perugino. Milan, 1984: 33, 34, 36, 60, 80, 81-82, cat. 38, pl. 5, fig. 56
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 106, no. 77, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 302, repro.
1985
Wood, Jeryldene Marie. “The Early Paintings of Perugino.” Ph.D. diss., University of Virginia, 1985: 85, 151-167, 176-177, 204 n., 206 n., 242-243 n., fig. 34.
1986
Russell, Francis. “Perugino and the Early Experiecne of Raphael.” Studies in the History of Art 17 (1986): 189.
1987
Bellosi, Luciano. “Un omaggio di Raffaello al Verrocchio.” In Micaela Sambucco Hamoud and Maria Letizio Strocchi, eds. Studi sul Raffaello. Atti del congresso internazionale. Urbino, 1987: 414-415.
1987
Hartt, Frederick. History of Italian Renaissance Art. 3rd ed. New York, 1987: 360-361, fig. 379.
1987
Toledano, Ralph. Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Pittore e scultore. Milan, 1987: 18.
1988
Pinacoteca di Brera. Scuole lombarda e piemontese 1300-1535. Milan, 1988: 156
1989
Mosjakin, Alexander. “Die Madonna Alba und Andere.” Lettre international 7 (Winter 1989): 71.
1989
Todini, Filippo. La pittura umbra dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento. 2 vols. Milan, 1989: 1:273.
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 91, 92, color repro.
1992
Hall, Marcia B. Color and Meaning. Practice and Theory in Renaissance Painting. Cambridge and New York, 1992: 87-88, fig. 29.
1992
National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 23, repro.
1993
Gagliardi, Jacques. La conquête de la peinture: L’Europe des ateliers du XIIIe au XVe siècle. Paris, 1993: 640, fig. 809.
1994
De Peverelli, Maria, and Ludovico Pratesi. Dentro l’immagine. Paesaggio, arredi e dettagli nella pittura del Rinascimento italiano. Cinisello Balsamo, 1994: 66-73.
1994
Zuffi, Stefano. Perugino. Milan, 1994: 10, 20-21, 59, figs. 4, 5.
1996
Ferino Pagden, Sylvia. "Perugino." In Jane Turner, ed. The Dictionary of Art. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 24:522.
1997
Antenucci Becherer, Joseph. "Perugino in America: Masterpieces, Myths, and Mistaken Identities." In Joseph Antenucci Becherer, ed. Pietro Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance. Exh. cat., The Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, 1997: 108-110, 114, fig. 40.
1997
Bradshaw, Marilyn. "Pietro Perugino: An Annotated Chronicle." In Joseph Antenucci Becherer, ed. Pietro Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance. Exh. cat., The Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, 1997: 260-261.
1997
Garibaldi, Vittoria. Perugino. Florence, 1997: 25, fig. 27.
1998
Christiansen, Keith. "The View From Italy." In Maryan W. Ainsworth and Keith Christiansen, eds. From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998: 41-43, fig. 22.
1999
Bellosi, Luciano. “The Landscape alla fiamminga.” In Victor M. Schmidt et. al., eds. Italy and the Low Countries—Artistic Relations. The Fifteenth Century. Proceedings of the Sympsoium Held at Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, 14 March 1994. Florence, 1999: 100-101.
1999
Benzi, Fabio, and Luigi Berliocchi. Paesaggio mediterraneo. Metamorfosi e storia dall’antichità preclassical al XIX secolo. Milan, 1999: 64.
1999
Garibaldi, Vittoria. Perugino: Catalogo completo. Florence, 1999: 25, fig. 27.
1999
Hiller von Gaetringen, Rudolf. Raffaels Lernerfahrungen in der Werkstatt Peruginos. Berlin, 1999: 46-54.
2000
Brown, David Alan. “Italian Medieval and Renaissance Paintings.” In Connaissance des Arts. National Gallery of Art (special issue). Paris, 2000: 19.
2002
Hirschauer, Gretchen. “Meditations on a Theme: Plants in Perugino’s Crucifixion.” In Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi and Gretchen A. Hirschauer, eds. The Flowering of Florence: Botanical Art for the Medici. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2002: 108-117.
2003
Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 552-556, color repro.
2004
Galassi, Cristina. “‘Le prince de l’art chrétienne’ al tempo delle requisizioni francesi.” In Vittoria Garibaldi and Francesco Federico Mancini, eds. Perugino: il divin pittore. Exh. cat. Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia, 2004: 430.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 34-35, no. 24, color repro.
2004
Nuttall, Paula. From Flanders to Florence: The Impact of Netherlandish Painting, 1400-1500. New Haven and London, 2004: 239.
2005
Todini, Filippo. “Il Perugino, le sue botteghe e i suoi seguaci: ‘Volendo fare di sua mano, lui è il meglio maestro d’Italia’.” In Rosanna Caterina Proto Pisani, ed. Perugino a Firenze: Qualità e fortuna d’uno stile. Exh. cat. Cenacolo di Fuligno, Florence, 2005: 59.
2006
Hartt, Frederick, and David G. Wilkins. History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, 2006: 377-378, color fig. 14.19.
2009
Odom, Anne, and Wendy R. Salmond, eds. Treasures into Tractors: The Selling of Russia's Cultural Heritage, 1918-1938. Washington, 2009: 131, 135 n. 62.
2011
Fiedler, Susanne, and Torsten Knuth. "Vexierbilder einer Biographie: Dr. Heinz Mansfeld (1899-1959)." Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher 126 (2011):308.
2011
Hojer, Annette. “‘Die wahre Methode ihrer Ausführung’: Peruginos Landschaften und das Naturideal des Humanismus.” In Andreas Schumacher, ed. Perugino. Raffaels Meister. Exh. cat. Alte Pinakothek, Munich, 2011: 56-58, fig. 28.
2011
Kustodieva, Tat'jana. Museo Statale Ermitage: La pittura italiana dal XIII al XVI secolo. Milan, 2011: 18.
2011
Schumacher, Andreas. “‘Il Perugino’: Ein umbrischer Klassiker in Florenz.” In Andreas Schumacher, ed. Perugino. Raffaels Meister. Exh. cat. Alte Pinakothek, Munich, 2011: 19.
2013
Semyonova, Natalya, and Nicolas V. Iljine, eds. Selling Russia's Treasures: The Soviet Trade in Nationalized Art 1917-1938. New York and London, 2013: 138, 139, 212-213, repro.
2019
Campbell, Stephen J. The Endless Periphery: Toward a Geopolitics of Art in Lorenzo Lotto’s Italy. Chicago and London, 2019: 288 n. 68.
2023
Martelli, Cecilia. “Dopo il successo della Sistina: le opere di Perugino degli anni ottanta.” In Marco Pierini and Veruska Picchiarelli, eds. Il meglio maestro d’Italia. Perugino e il suo tempo. Exh. cat., Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia, 2023: 256, 264-266, figs. 17-19.

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