▲ William Melczer, Crocifisso detto della beata Villana,
 Syracuse Univ., NY, ottobre 1981
dattiloscritto, pp. 4, originale italiano, inviato a p. Isnardo Grossi OP
(lettera d'accompagnamento 6.X.81 invita a correggere errori di lingua)

Crocifisso ligneo policromatico in passato nella Cappella della Pura a Santa Maria Novella. La Beata Villana († 1361), affezionatíssima al crocifisso, soleva pregare davanti ad esso (P. Stefano Orlandi, La Beata Villana, Firenze, 1955, tav. Il, p. 60). Il crocifisso è formato da una croce latina di grandi dimensioni con la figura di Cristo in grandezza naturale. Quest'ultimo è probabilmente opera di esecuzione tedesca della prima metà del sec. XIV, quasi sicuramente importato. Il crocifisso fu recentemente restaurato nell'Istítuto del Restauro, Fortezza da Basso, Firenze. Presentemente è collocato in una delle sale del convento.

Con un gran naturalismo che evoca la realtà delle sue sofferenze, il corpo del Cristo pende dalla croce al quale è affisso con i tre chiodi che dal sec. XIII in poi diventeranno canonici. Le braccia, allungate, magrissime, e distese in forma di Y, sostengono il corpo inerte ed appesantito del Cristo. Il corpo è piegato in avanti e verso destra all'altezza della spalla, e poi a sinistra alla vita. L'ossatura delle costole sporge con insistenza dalla cassa toracíca. Il basso ventre e le gambe sono coperte fin sotto le ginocchia dal perizoníum. Il piede destro poggia su quello sinistro, ambedue affissatí con un unico chiodo. Le dita, tanto delle mani come dei piedi, sono separate ed incurvate nella rígidità della morte sopravvenuta. Tutto il corpo è ricoperto di piaghe ulcerate, ricordo delle sue sofferenze. Una corona di spine cinge la testa china, verso destra, sul petto. Sotto la corona, le ciocche di capelli irrigiditi dal sangue coagulato gli cadono sulle spalle. Il volto allungato è di un naturalismo realista che capta ltangoscia dell'atto della morte corporale: le guance mummificate, gli occhi socchiusi, la bocca semiaperta. Il sangue corre abbondantemente sulle avambraccia e sui piedi e, particolarmente, sul fianco destro. Anche il volto è insanguinato. Il recente restauro ha tolto, a giusto titolo, un nimbo crucífero da sopra, il capo, sicuramente di fattura tarda.

La croce stessa, di notevole complessità ornamentale gotica (caratterístiche le mezze palmette sporgenti in forma di piccole fiaccolette) è provvista alle estremítà di medaglioni quadrilobati che recano varie rappresentazioni della Passione e Resurrezione: la Flagellazione (in alto), la Discesa al Limbo (a destra), la Derisione di Cristo (a sinistra) e Cristo Risorto che mostra le sue ferite (in basso). Non è da escludere che si tratti qui non della croce originale ma di una susseguentemente adattata alla figura del Cristo. La posizione alquanto assimetrica di questa sulla croce sembra confermare una tale ipotesi.

Poco dopo il 1300, sotto gli influssi ideologici molteplici tanto della teologia di s. Anselmo di Canterbury come della contemplazione della croce di s. Bernardo di Clairvaux, il Cristo Crocifisso diventa sempre più l'oggetto centrale degli interessi mistici. Gli echi più ampi del naturalismo gotico e delle tendenze immanentistiche francescane devono aver anche contribuito al processo. Nelle regioni germaniche della Renanía e della Vestfalia, come anche negli ambiti centroeuropei dell'Austria, della Boemia e della Silesia, l'iconografia del crocifisso si arricchisce con una nuova tipologia che, senza sopprimere forme gíà esistenti, trova il suo proprio sviluppo: il crucifixus dolorosus. Il tema del Cristo In Croce subisce un mutamento essenziale: dalla rappresentazione della vittoria sulla morte si arriva alla consapevolezza della realtà delle sofferenze e della morte di Cristo. La nuova tipologia si diffonde nelle regioni sovrammenzionate dell'Europa Centrale, con esempi isolati anche in Francia ed in Italia. Un profondo naturalismo gotico domina la composizione. Il suppedaneum non c'è più. Invece del nimbo, una corona di spine cinge la testa china sul petto. Il corpo emaciato ed inerte proclama a gran voce i segni del martirio: braccia sottilissime. distese quasi sempre in forma di Y, ossatura pettorale pronunciatissima, corpo sovente ricoperto da ulcere, sangue abbondante che corre dalle cinque ferite. Sovente la bocca è mezza aperta. Anche la croce sottostante è a volte in forma di Y (Gabelkrucifix)

I modelli pià antichi della tipologia derivano tutti dal territorio culturale germanico sovrammenzionato: il crocifisso di St. Maria in Kapitol in Köln del 1304 e quella della collezione Mangold di Colmar, costituiscono esempi di un esagerato e quasi grottesco naturalismo primitivo. Ma le forme si fanno presto più miti e una moderazione naturalística di accenti realistici pacati subentra nella composizione nei crocifissi della Cattedrale di Perpignan del 1307 (pure, senza dubbio, lavoro tedesco), di St. Georg in Köln  (c. 1333) e di Andernach in Renania, il cosiddetto "Ungarkreuz" forse alquanto posteriore. La tipologia di questo stile addolcito del crucifixus dolorosus ("Weicher Stil"), di cui esempi ulteriori sono identificabili a Krefeld-Línn ed a St. Mauritius in Köln, troverà poi accoglienza in Italia. I crocifissi di St. Georg in Köln e di Andernach costituiscono degli esempi notevolmente prossimi al Crocifisso della Beata Villana a Santa Maria Novella: a parte l'iconografia vicinissima (postura del capo, volto, torace etc.) le tre rappresentazioni testimoniano anche di una definita affinítà stilistica e sono animate dallo stesso moderato naturalismo. Il fatto che il Crocifisso di Andernach è a tipo forchetta (Gabelkreuz) non invalida affatto quanto sopraddetto: anche il nostro crocifisso può aver avuto, secondo abbiamo visto sopra, una croce originale  diversa da quella di oggi.

Bibliografia: G. de Francovich, L'origine e la diffusione del crocifisso gotico doloroso, "Römisches Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte" (Jahrbuch der BibIiotheca Hertziana), 11, 1938, 143-261.

P. Thoby, Le crucifix des origines au Concile de Trente, Roche-sur-Yon & Paris, 1959.

F. Mühlberg, Crucifixus dolorosus, "Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch" (Westdeutsches Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte) XXII, 1960, 69-86.

G. Oldemeyer, Die Darstellung des gekreuzigten Christus in der Kunst des "Weichen Stils", Diss., Freiburg, 1965.

F. Mühlberg, Das hl. Kreuz v. Linn, Munuscula discipulorum, Festschrift H. Kduffmann, Berlin, 1968, 187-206.

▲ Carlo L. Ragghianti, Croce spagnola a Firenze,
«Critica d'Arte» 52 (1987) 85-87.

Nel commento critico dedicato al restauro della grande Croce in legno dipinto in S. Maria Novella a Fírenze («Critica d'Arte», L, n.s. n. 5, apr. 1985, pp. 82-83) ho motivato le ragioni per cui le 4 pitture sulla Croce [intende i 4 quadrilobi nelle estremità della croce?], da me attribuite ad artista inglese (dal Toesca credute di scuola di Cimabue) del secolo XIII, dovevano essere assegnate a pittore spagnolo di cultura o lingua inglese: fenomeno frequente nella pittura e miniatura spagnola tra il sec. XII e il XV, non bene avvertito com'è invece quello della diffusa cultura francese. Riservandomi di riparlare della scultura, non aggiunsi che la croce foliata di S. Maria Novella era analoga a quella, della fine del secolo XIII, del Calvario di S. Miguel Tamasite de Liberia (Huesca), ciò che avvalorava il riferimento alla provenienza spagnola della Croce.

L'occasione di illustrare la scultura, cioè il Cristo lebbroso o appestato (non genericamente «doloroso»), mi è data dall'invio, a séguito della nostra pubblicazione, da parte della perita Autrìce di un volumetto (ANGELA FRANCO MATA: Escultura gotica española en el siglo XVI y sus relaciones con la Italia trecentista; Madrid 1985, 78 ill.), nel quale conferma la relazione asserita da R. BRANCA (1935) col Crocefisso in San Francesco a Oristano, aggiungendo alle due opere, che data 1330-40, il Crocefisso nella Cattedrale di Perpignano rivelato da M. Darliat nel 1952 e datato Anno Domini 1307 per il deposito della reliquia di S. Maurizio, ma probabilmente anteriore.

Non entro qui nel tema delle ricerche iconografico-religiose sul gusto dei Cristo sofferente, mi limito a ricordare che l'invenzione compositiva dei Crocefisso spasmodico è diffusa in Francia dal secolo XII nella miniatura, ed ha filiazioni europee nel secolo XIII in scultura, anche in Italia con le sculture di Giovannì Pisano, è con un gruppo di Crocefissi tra i quali spicca quello nel Duomo di Palermo. Le convergenze francesi-colonesi-spagnole (vedi Crocefisso di S. Maria in Campidoglio a Colonia, c. 1303-04), sono bene indicate dalla FRANCO. Richiamo l'attenzione sulla grande Croce (h. cm 194) nella chiesa di Cballant Saint-Victor, che fu male attribuita ad arte aostana della fine del secolo XIV (mostra di Torino 1939, p. 39), impostazione francese o renana al piú tardi degli inizi dei secolo XIV, perché è un esemplare di grande qualità artistica, e per nulla provinciale.

Determinante per l'assegnazione dei Crocefisso di S. Maria Novella ad artista spagnolo dello scorcio del secolo XIII, quindi solidale con le pitture ispaniche angloglotte, è il grande Crocefisso, distrutto nella guerra interna del 1936, già nella chiesa parrocchiale di Camps de Fonollosa (BarceIona), che l'A. riproduce da vecchie fotografie: un Cristo lebbroso (ridipinto) come quello in S. Maria Novella, dello stesso impianto, analogo nello sviluppo corporeo non contratto e nel perizoma annodato e cadente, su una croce foliata (affine al Crocefisso nell'Hospice de Brionde, come quello di Oristano lo è al «Dévot Christ» di Perpignano).

Con successiva approssimazione, movendo da un primo riconoscimento, si è cosí pervenuti alla collocazione storica e artistica di un capolavoro della scultura spagnola dello scorcio del secolo XIII, facente parte di una tendenza patetica internazionale che non cessa di provocare con forte incentivo la fantasia degli artisti, se si osserva che è ancora a questi Croceffissi lebbrosi come Giobbe e gementi, sofferenti fino allo spasimo, che si rivolge il ricordo passionale di Matteo Grünewald a Basilea e a Colmar [C.L.R.: † Firenze 3.VIII.1987].

▲ i. kyzourová - p. Kalina, The Přemyslovskỳ crucifix of Jihlava stylistic character and meaning of a crucifixus dolorosus,
«Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch» 57 (1996) 35-64.
riprodotte solo pp. 52-64

(... pp. 35-52 omesse...)

We have seen the complicated situation of the Jihlava Crucifix in the framework of the whole group of crucifixi dolorosi. Now it is necessary to scrutinize its original meaning, its position in the social and spiritual life at the time of its origin.

It is generally accepted that the "Přemyslovskỳ " Crucifix was from the very beginning placed in the Dominican church at Jihlava [= conventus Iglaviensis ]. This church was among the most important churches in 13th century Bohemian Kingdom, being one of the earliest hall structures in Central Europe. The dedication of the church to the Holy Cross was quite common in the Polish-Czech province, to which the convent belonged up to ca. 1300, and there is probably no connection between the name of the church and the giant Crucifix. The hall structure of the Jihlava church of Dominicans was probably influenced by their hall church in Cologne, the spiritual centre of the Order in Central Europe and also dedicated to the Holy Cross.

Supposing that the "Přemyslovskỳ" Crucifix really originates from the Dominican church at Jihlava, where it was highly venerated in the past, it is possible to reconstruct its original setting and its original impact on church-goers. The Crucifix would have been situated in a calm, perfectly balanced space, which served as an ideal stage for preaching, and where it could have been viewed from virtually all standpoints. If we take into account its extraordinary measurements [altezza della croce 309 cm], it is probable that it was not placed under the triumphal arch, but that it stood on (or behind) the altar of the Holy Cross, as it is supposed for many crucifixi dolorosi. In any case, it must have been situated in the main axis of the church by which church visitors (who recruited themselves from the Jihlava laity) approached. More than likely, its powerful shape dominated that part of the church which did not serve the community, of friars, but was attended mainly by burghers of Jihlava and their families. [funzione di croce corale?, come quella di Giotto in SMN?]

Unfortunately, we know practically nothing about spiritual life of Jihlava inhabitants in the first half of the 14th century, when the Jihlava Crucifix was in all likelihood created. Still worse, we are not informed about spiritual life of the Jihlava Dominicans themselves. Nothing indicates that the new mystical piety of the first half of the 14th century was known at Jihlava in this period, especially if we consider that even the library of the Dominican convent at Basel, which was much nearer to the centres of the Dominican mysticism, contains practically no works of the "Deutsche 'Mystik". Given this, it is necessary to deal with the situation in the Bohemian Kingdom in general, and to suppose that the same questions which excited the minds of believers elsewhere were echoed at Jihlava too.

For art history, the first half of the 14th century is traditionally connected with the emergence of new artistic types, known as 'Andachtsbilder", whose character was often supposed to be influenced by contemporary mystical teachings. This is probably true as far as such sculptures like Christ-John-groups are concerned, and especially in singular cases of South German or other convents, where direct relations between some statues and written sources can be found. In Bohemia, nevertheless, there are no traces of the new spirituality except for some mystically toned passages from the famous Chronicle by Peter of Zittau, the Abbot of the Cistercian Abbey at Zbraslav near Prague. Even the fact that Master Eckhart was a chief of the Bohemian province of Dominicans for a while probably left no important traces on Bohemian spiritual life of the period. It is questionable whether the known "mystical" texts by the Dominican Kolda of Koldice in the beautifully adorned manuscript of Kunigunda, the Abbess of St. George's Nunnery of Benedictine nuns at Prague Castle, show any influence of Eckhart's thought at all, whereas other texts written for the Abbess are rooted in the older tradition of monastic spirituality.

The situation of Dominicans in the Bohemian Kingdom was influenced by several factors. One of them was their (as well as other mendicant orders') latent conflict with the parish clergy, which bursted out in 1334 in an open clash. The most important struggles were described in Prague, but an informed chronicler said that the friars were prosecuted in smaller towns too, not only in the capital. Another fact which must have influenced the position of the Order in the Czech lands was the introduction of the Inquisition into the Bohemian Kingdom in the second half of the 1310s, the execution of which was entrusted namely to Dominicans and Franciscans. As almost everywhere, the new institution became enormously unpopular, and its unpopularity even lead to violent actions, e. g. the murder of the Dominican inquisitor Johann of Schwenkenfeld in Prague in 1341. To sum up, Dominicans in Bohemia in the first half of the 14th century were in a very precarious position, and every art work in their churches would have faced a rather critical audience. It is generally known that the introduction of a new type of devotional imagery could be difficult, as demonstrated in England, where the crucifixi dolorosi were not accepted. On the other hand, it is very interesting that practically all sculptures belonging to the new devotional types of the first half of the 14th century which are preserved in Bohemia originate from mendicant churches, as witnessed by the Pietas from Českỳ Krumlov, Cheb, and Jihlava, by the figure of Christ from the Holy Sepulchre frome České Budějovice and above all by the Jihlava Crucifix itself. It seems as if all these statues were a part not only of the new mystical piety, but also, as visual embodiments of the basic truths of the Catholic faith, a part of the vigorous struggle which the 14th century friars lead against heresies.

The establishment of the Inquisition in Bohemia was a reaction to the increasing strength of heretical movements. Heretics were especially numerous in South Bohemian towns and villages, such that a small crusade was organized against them in 1339/1340. The rejection of the veneration of the Crucifix was a typical feature of heretical teachings. As far as we know, there are no mentions about heretics at Jihlava in the 14th century. It is not improbable, however, that at least some of their unorthodox ideas were widely known. If we read the inquisition records from 1335-1343, which describe the case of the goldsmith Heynus Lugner from Brno, it is evident that representation of the Crucified Christ was not generally accepted at this time. In fact, it is more than likely that the average visitors of the Dominican church at Jihlava shared neither Lugner's nor the mystics' attitude towards the Crucifix. On the other hand, it should not be omitted that even in such major centres of West European culture like Cologne the deepest mystical thoughts coexisted in space and time with heretical movements. It is not so surprising if we consider the fact that both mysticism and heresies had very similar social root and, as best witnessed by the famous trial of the Master Eckhart, the boundaries between them were often very fluid.

After analyzing the ambiguous social situation in 14th century Bohemia, and especially the ambivalent role of Dominicans in the social life of this period, it is possible to ask whether mysticism, by far the best known part of 14th century mentality could have influenced the actual appearance of the Jihlava Crucifix when it was in fact only one voice in the polyphony of the period. It is widely agreed that there were at least two main currents in 14th century mysticism: the neoplatonic branch which led to pure speculation about God, and the christocentric piety for which images were of much greater importance. The use of images by devotees at the first stage of their spiritual growth does not interest us here. It is quite clear that this function can be fulfilled by any devotional image, for example by a Romanesque Crucifix, just as well as by any expressive, "modern" statue of the second quarter of the 14th century.

Like many other crucifixi dolorosi, the Jihlava Crucifix also served as a large reliquary, as witnessed by a hollow in his head. Providing that at least some of the relics inserted in this hollow were connected with the life of Christ, the statue would have been, as many of the 14th century images were, both artistic representation and concrete presentation of the "depicted" person. It is a question whether the hollow in the Christ's spine served as a reliquary, too, or whether it was created only for technical reasons.

One of the typical features of the "new" spirituality of the first half of the 14th century was the self-identification of the meditating person with the crucified Christ. This identification found its best known manifestations in the work of the Dominican Heinrich Suso, who, for example, made himself a cross which he is reported to have worn directly on his body, but this attitude is well witnessed by devotional literature all over Europe. This mystical identification with the Christ could have direct bearing on the interpretation of the most conspicuous feature of crucifixi dolorosi, its Y-shaped crosses, which were originally green in colour. The interpretation of these crosses as Paradise Trees, generally accepted by modern scholarship, corresponds very well with older monastic tradition and need not be revised. On the other hand, it is possible that in the first half of the 14th century this green cross could have been interpreted in another way. In the diaries of Elsbeth von Oye, a Dominican nun who lived in Zürich ca. 1280-1350, and may have had some contacts with Suso, we have documented visions which are among the most telling accounts of piety focused on complete self-identification with the suffering Christ, which was so typical for South German convents of the period. In one of her visions, Christ said to Elsbeth: « Du bist mit mir gekreuzet also, daz din kruze min kruze wider gruenende unt bluegende machen sol in der lute herzen, then ez gar toedmig unt vergezzinlich was ». Thus the green cross of a crucifixus dolorosus may be interpreted as a result of an inner experience of a mystic who felt inwardly crucified with Christ.

There are still other texts which could influence not only the interpretation of crucifixi dolorosi in the eyes of mystics, but also their visual character. For example, in a text by 14th century visionary Agnes Blannbekin, we read about the Crucified: "The men who crucified Him [...] put the thorn crown so hardly on his head, that its thorns penetrated to his brain". This or a similar text may have inspired the concrete shaping of the crown of thorns in the Crucifixes of the new type, with large thorns in the crown and polychromed drops of blood dripping down from the wounds caused by them. The restoration of the Jihlava Crucifix proved that such bloody drops adorned its head from the very origin of the statue. Moreover, an X-radiograph of the head proved that the thorns literally penetrated through the Christ's head into the hollow in it.

Another text which may have been important for the physical appearance not only of the whole group of crucifixi dolorosi, but especially for the individual case of the Jihlava Crucifix, is a versified Czech prayer which is written in the manuscript XVII F 30 of the National Library in Prague (fos. 53 a-57 b). The prayer is based on meditation of the Christ's Passion. It was written ca. 1380, but it can be of older date and, like some other texts from the same manuscript, may have been inspired by a Latin model. It begins with an affective description of the Mockery of Christ and the Flagellation. The verses describing the Crucifixion itself are important for two reasons. Firstly, the author gives there an interpretation of the Crucifixion which makes it real in our time. He says that Christ extended his arms in order to embrace him as a friend and that he inclined his head in order to be nearer to him and to kiss him. It is a variant of the well-known mystical motif of the mystical kiss and the mystical embrace. Secondly, and of immense importance for crucifixi dolorosi of expressive character, this mystical motif is immediately combined with an emotional description of Christ's body which perfectly corresponds with the appearance of the Jihlava Crucifix. The anonymous author describes big bloody wounds caused by blunt nails, the bones protruding from the Christ's side, bloody streams on his hands etc. In short, the text witnesses the relation between dramatic depiction of the Crucified and the mystical idea of union with him. It is quite probable that a similar text could inspire either the Jihlava Crucifix itself (the character of its polychromy suggests that it was executed in Bohemia) or, because it is very probable that it was at least partially translated from Latin or German, other expressive Central European versions of the theme.

On the basis of all that has been said, it is possible to conclude that the crucifixus dolorosus of Jihlava was not created before 1330. All the Crucifixes with which it can be compared, are dated by the majority of scholars into the 1320s or 1330s. Its author in all likelihood was not any Czech sculptor because it is impossible to find in the Czech lands any work which could be persuasively attributed to him. Its polychromy, nevertheless, shows, according to the results of the recent restoration, undeniable analogies to the contemporary Bohemian panel painting. Given this, it may be inferred that the Crucifix was not imported, but that it was executed at Jihlava by a foreign sculptor. His work can be characterized as a member of the group of monumental Crucifixes from Austria, Dalmatia and Italy, with which it shares the basic stylistic features. In the framework of this group it may be grasped, nevertheless, as the limit-member which is nearest to the Cologne Crucifixes of the same period. It displays so close a relationship to the Crucifix of Andernach, that it is possible to consider that these two Crucifixes might be created by the same master, or by a member of the same workshop.

The Jihlava Crucifix not only belongs among the crucifixi dolorosi, but even inside this group belongs to those works which could have been directly influenced by contemporary mystical writings, some of which we have cited in the text. On the other hand, we have seen that it was not created for an audience which would have been in perfect accord with the thought of the most illuminated spirits of the Dominican Order, in whose church it found its place. The Jihlava Crucifix from its very origin ought to have persuaded the church-visitors not only about the basic truths of the Catholic faith, but about the necessity of art in the church as well. We can imagine that its powerful shape made the same impact in the middle of the 14th century as Francis Bacon's Crucifixions make today.

pavel Kalina,
Giovanni Pisano, the Dominicans, and the Origin of the "crucifixi dolorosi"

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