Christ the Redeemer
Venice , 1495 - 1505
Description
Risen Christ, blessing, has lost the banner he held in his left hand. Part of his chest is uncovered, revealing the wound on his side. This large bronze sculpture is a truly magnificent piece for the quality of the casting and the refinement of the anatomical rendering. It was originally in the Chapel of the Savior in Santa Maria della Carità in Venice, built around 1493-1494 for the very wealthy jeweler Domenico di Piero. It is attributed to an unknown workshop of Venetian foundrymen who probably executed it on a model by the sculptor Antonio Lombardo (Venice 1458-1516).
Data Sheet
Author
Venice
Date
1495 - 1505
Material and technique
bronze
Measures
138 cm x 60 cm x 42.5 cm
Acquisition
Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli bequest, 1879
Inventory number
0432
location
Golden Room
The Golden Room is the most important room in the Museum and houses the masterpieces of painting from the Poldi Pezzoli collection. Conceived according to the dictates of the Renaissance style, it was designed to be the hall of honor of Gian Giacomo’s apartment. After the collector’s death, Giuseppe Bertini carried on the work: unfortunately, both the gilded coffered ceiling, the frescoes, painted by Bertini himself, and the damask fabric decorations that lined the walls were destroyed by bombing. The current museographic arrangement dates back to the 1990s. Among the works on display are the Portrait of a Lady attributed to Piero del Pollaiolo and which has become a symbol of the museum, Bellini’s Imago Pietatis, Botticelli’s Lamentation over the Dead Christ, Mantegna’s Madonna and Child, and Piero della Francesca’s Saint Nicholas of Tolentino. The display case separating the Salone Dorato from the Sala degli Stucchi houses the porcelain and majolica collections.