Crucifix

Cellini’s final masterpiece is the marble Crucifix, which was to have decorated his own tomb. It was made with the object of fulfilling a vow made by Cellini in 1539 during his imprisonment in the Castel Sant’Angelo but also as another attempt to demonstrate his mastery as a marble sculptor. In his will of 1555, it is recorded only as a small wax model. Cellini intended to translate it into marble but specified that should he die before doing so it was to be executed by the best sculptor available, on condition that this person was not a descendant or pupil of Bandinelli. It was to be placed in Santa Maria Novella, opposite Brunelleschi’s Crucifix.

The following year Cellini purchased the marble required for the work and, when he was imprisoned that same year, decided to undertake the carving himself with the help of Bernardino Pettirossi. In March 1557, in a petition to Cosimo, Cellini claimed that the work was almost complete and in November that year he bought the black marble to carve the cross; the figure of Christ is of white marble. The sculpture was not finally completed until 1562, the date carved as part of the inscription at the feet of Christ.

At some point difficulties in finding a home for Cellini’s tomb and a pressing need for money led him to present the Crucifix as a ‘gift’, for which he sent in a bill, to Cosimo I who had the statue taken to the Palazzo Pitti in August 1565. Five years after the artist’s death, Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici presented it to Philip II of Spain, who installed it in the monastery of San Lorenzo el Real in the Escorial, where it was rediscovered in 1882.