PITTORE DEL XVI SECOLO

Christ Carrying the Cross Pouring His Blood into a Chalice Supported by an Angel Oil on panel, 210X130 cm The blood shed by Jesus for the salvation of mankind was an object of worship from the earliest centuries of the Christian era, but devotion increased from the 11th century, especially in connection with the spread of the legend of the Holy Grail. According to tradition, the soldier Longinus pierced the side of the crucified Jesus with the Holy Lance to ascertain his death, and from the wound gushed blood that induced Longinus to conversion by collecting it in a jar. The iconography then found different illustrative formulas, and specific is the one depicting an angel collecting the blood of Christ. The panel under consideration, datable to the 16th century, was evidently an altarpiece and bore a collector's attribution to Arcangelo di Jacopo del Sellaio (Florence, 1460 - 1530). Analysis of the painting would suggest execution by a central Italian author, with hints of Umbrian culture of Perugia matrix and Roman influences.