The Mond Crucifixion

Two angels balance beside the Cross, holding golden cups beneath Christ’s wounds. Their delicate movements contrast with the still body at the centre. The cups recall the chalices used for wine during the Christian Mass. Raphael painted this early altarpiece around 1502–03 for a burial chapel in Città di Castello, an Umbrian town. Its patron, Domenico Gavari, was a wool merchant and banker. The image stood above an altar, where the painted blood and cups could be understood alongside the ceremony taking place below. Mary and John the Evangelist stand at either side of the Cross. At its foot, Saint Jerome and Mary Magdalene kneel and look upwards. Their gestures offer different expressions of mourning around a carefully balanced central figure. Both sun and moon appear in the sky. The small landscape behind the group stretches away into the distance, while the angels hold attention near Christ’s body. The painting’s familiar name comes from Ludwig Mond, a later owner who left it to the National Gallery.