Chapel 38 - The Crucifixion

The scene depicts Jesus dying on the cross with the two thieves on his sides, the Virgin Mary with the pious women, Saint John, the soldiers and those who accompanied him to Calvary.
Between 1515 and 1520 Gaudenzio Ferrari painted a three-dimensional scene of the crucifixion that combines the traditional figures of the Gospel tale such as Jesus and the thieves, St. John, the pious women, the soldiers who gamble for Jesus's clothes, a varied set of characters defined with great naturalness of physiognomy and feelings, the gypsy with her children and her little dog, the noblewoman with her little daughter, the group of old persons, the soldiers and characters of everyday life, like the man with a pronounced goiter who gives Jesus the sponge soaked in water and vinegar.
With unique and careful direction, Gaudenzio continued the procession on the walls, with painted two-dimensional figures coordinated with the three-dimensional characters in colored terracotta, of similar scale and proportions so as to make the illusion of a unique scene. This narrative technique will remain as a model for the artists who worked at the Sacred Mount after him.