The Dead Christ on the Cross

Description In 1657, Pope Alexander VII commissioned Bernini to produce crucifixes for the side aisles of St. Peter's Basilica, in the Vatican. While Bernini provided the design (either a drawing or a terracotta model), the wax model was made in 1658 by the sculptor Ercole Ferrata. The bronze cast was then made by Paolo Curieri, and Bartolomeo Cennini, working under Bernini's supervision, was charged with the final chasing, or finishing, of the surface detail. As Ferrata had the models in his own workshop at his death, and as there are small casting flaws that Bernini would probably not have accepted (for example, fills are visible on Christ's leg), this "Dead Christ on the Cross" is likely to be a later cast. The modern cross is based on Bernini's design for those in St. Peter's.

Exhibitions

• The Allure of Bronze. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1995.
• Going for Baroque. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1995-1996.

Provenance Richier [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Christie's, New York, January 14, 1992, lot 157; Walters Art Museum, 1992, by purchase.

Credit Museum purchase with funds provided by the W. Alton Jones Foundation Acquisition Fund, 1992