Antique Crucifix - Polychrome wood and gesso - circa 1700 - Polychrome sculpture of Christ

Christ Crucified, a polychrome sculpture applied on a flat wooden cross varnished in black from a later period.
The Christ is depicted patiens (suffering), with the head inclined toward the right shoulder and the eyes closed.
The facial features show marked traits; the body presents a lean and essential anatomy, with the side wound and the sternum highlighted by graphic grooves and reddish areas that simulate the wounds and the blood of the Passion.
The loincloth (perizonium) is knotted on the right flank, characterized by a rather rigid and geometrized drapery, typical of devotional plastic production, not of an exalted (aulic) style.
The arms are stretched in a 'V' shape upward, and the hands, as well as the overlapped feet, show nailings made with hand-forged wrought-iron nails. The body of the sole Christ measures just over 30 cm in length, making it a piece for private devotion or for a small altar.

The work shows stylistic features typical of late-Baroque sacred sculpture.
The pathetic, highly expressive setting, united with the dramaticity of the blood spurts and the austere rendering of the torso, connects the artifact to the school and tradition of southern Italy (in particular the Campania or Apulian/Salento area).