Madonna of the Passion

This panel is the only secure reference for the early work of Crivelli, a Venetian painter exiled to Zara and subsequently active for the rest of his life in the Marches; it is signed and dated in classical capital letters. The subject presents a complete allegorical symbology of the Passion of Christ, including angels holding instruments of the Passion and a landscape background with the scene of the Crucifixion. There are also a curious representation of Jerusalem with Gothic turrets and oriental personages, the episode of Saint Peter who has cut off the ear of a soldier, the vulture perched on the withered tree, typical symbol of cruelty and death in scenes of the Passion, and the child on a white horse, a symbol of immaturity and inconstancy.