Italy, Venece,Crucifixion with Mary and Saint John 1350

This crucifixion scene shows Mary and Saint John the Evangelist standing to the left and the right of the cross. The medieval church regarded the Passion of Christ as the turning point in the history of Salvation, for God renewed His covenant with the people of Israel when He sacrificed His only son. The Old Testament was replaced by the New Testament, and the synagogue was replaced by the church as a place of worship and an institution. Hence, in crucifixion scenes, Saint John is depicted as a symbol of the Old Church or Synagogue, while Mary symbolizes the New Church or Ecclesia. A small mound is painted at the foot of the cross, as a reference to Golgotha, the hill on which Christ was crucified. The cross itself is red, an unusual colour, but a typical feature of the Venetian school. In addition, it has Byzantine-Greek letters on it, abbreviations of the following words: Jesus (left arm of the cross) Christ (right arm of the cross), Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews (at the top). The background of the dramatic scene is made of gold leaf and suggests no landscape or city view. The decaying surface clearly shows traces of the red paint that served as an underlayer before gold leaf was applied.