Vatican Museums

The work, signed by Carlo Crivelli, probably formed part of the upper section (the cymatium) of a polyptych and was purchased in 1831 by Pius VII (pontiff from 1800 to 1823) in the Marche region. Having abandoned Venice, the artist spent most of his life in this region, working at the head of an important studio, for local churches and convents. This composition shows us the extreme originality of the language developed by Crivelli in which the Renaissance conquests of perspective and distinct moulding of volumes are combined with decorative measures and the use of gold of late Gothic taste. The contorted type of line creates figures that are almost abstract and unreal, yet the composition achieves an effect of solemn and extraordinary dramatic force.