Altar and Altarpiece

Vittoria produced some of his greatest works during the 1580s, including a second altar for the Scuola di San Fantin in the Chapel of the Crucifix in Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Probably dating from the first half of the decade, it depicts the Crucifixion, for which Vittoria supplied bronzes of the Virgin and St John, each a little over 1 m high. Weighed down by the heavy folds of her robes but even more by her grief, the sorrowing Virgin has her hands clasped tightly together as she stares downward, providing a counterbalance to the figure of St John, who is portrayed with his arms spread wide and his neck strained upwards to gaze at Christ.