GIULIANO DI MARTINO DA RIMINI
(documented in Rimini from 1300 to 1323, and Padua in 1324)
Head of Christ (fragment of a cross)
1315
Tempera on panel, gold ground – 11¼ x 9 1/16 in
It is uncommon to find such a profoundly moving image as this. The panel is a rare survival from the oeuvre of one of the principal painters active in Romagna and north-eastern Italy seven hundred years ago; it originally formed part of a majestic, monumental Crucifix.
The intense humanity and drama of this painting reflect the influence of Giotto. His earliest work includes an altarpiece from Urbania, signed and dated 1307 (Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum).
Acquired by the Cassa di Risparmio di Rimini