The Pistoia Crucifix

This bronze has been called the most beautiful of many crucifixes ascribed to Pietro Tacca, including examples at the royal monastery of the Escorial in Spain and at the cathedrals of Prato and Pisa. Tacca, son of a marble merchant from Carrara, mastered bronze in Florence as a principal assistant to Giovanni Bologna, whom he succeeded in 1609 as sculptor to the Grand Duke. Although the twisting pose reflects the elegance of the celebrated older master, Tacca's personal pursuit of realism and pathos is revealed in the gaunt figure with protruding bones and also in flesh pushed up by nails, bulging closed eyes, and an aggressively spiky crown of thorns.