Plaster cast of a bronze crucifix by Giovanni Bologna (also known as Giambologna) in the church of SS. Annunziata, Florence, 1594-8, cast by Messrs Singer, ca. 1945

Plaster cast (crucifix) after the bronze original by Giovani Bologna in the funerary chapel of Giovanni Bologna, the Cappella del Soccorso, in the church of SS. Annunziata, Florence. The Crucifix is a replica of that which Giovanni Bologna had executed of the Duke of Bavaria in 1594 (in St, Michael's Church, Munich).

Given by J. Sebastian Comper

Original cast made by Belle Arte Florence and cast in bronze by Messrs Singer. Given by J. Sebastian Comper in 1968

Although Giovanni Bologna acquired the rights to the Cappella del Soccorso from the Dolci family in 1559 as his funerary chapel, he only commenced work upon its decoration in 1594, when he was in his sixties. He designed the chapel with great economy, incorporating sculptural compositions which he had originally designed for other locations. The Crucifix is a replica of the Crucifix which Giovanni Bologna had executed of the Duke of Bavaria in 1594 (in St, Michael's Church, Munich), while the six bronze reliefs of the Passion on the altar of the chapel are replicas of those he executed for the Grimaldi Chapel in San Francesco di Castelletto, Genoa, 1579-85 (now in Genoa University). Wax models by Giovanni Bologna for three of the six Passion Reliefs are also in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum (museum nos. 328 to 330-1879).

Original cast made by Belle Arte Florence and cast in bronze by Messrs Singer

This cast is taken from the bronze crucifix which the Florentine artist Giovanni Bologna (Giambologna) installed in his own funerary chapel in 1594, when he was in his sixties. It is a replica of the crucifix which he had executed for the Duke of Bavaria in St Michael's Church, Munich. Giambologna was one of the seminal artists of the high renaissance in Italy, and it was fitting that the Museum acquired this cast of one of his works, albeit at a remarkably late date in the history of the formation of the cast collection.

REPRO.A.1968-1