Giovanni Bellini
Christ on the Cross

Christ on the cross – one of the key subjects in Christian art. But how does Giovanni Bellini configure this topos of art history?

He places the monumental cross right on the edge of the painting, practically encroaching on the viewer's space. And the massive wooden cross extends across the entire height of the panel, blocking access to the picture space, as it were. 

While Carpaccio is keen to take viewers on a journey through the narrative of his paintings, Giovanni Bellini bases his work on a completely different concept. His composition doesn't invite viewers to explore a half-imaginary, half-realistic space – it invites them to meditate. The neatly arranged skulls lying on the rocky ground at the foot of the cross allude to transience and to Adam's original sin, which, according to the Christian faith, was expunged by Christ's sacrificial death. Behind the cross, there are a few leafless trees; but only a single branch, on the far left of the picture, has formed a new crown – a symbolic reference to the replacement of the Old Covenant (in other words Judaism) by the emergence of Christianity. 

In the background, on the left of the cross, there are two distinctive buildings from the city of Vicenza: the cathedral and the Torre Bissara, one of the city's tallest towers, built by the Bissari family. The complex also includes the cathedral of Ancona and what is presumably the bell tower of Santa Fosca in Venice.

Although the landscape and the city in the background are quite realistic, the painting doesn't lend itself to a narrative approach. Giovanni Bellini shows us the death on the cross, and we're meant to reflect on it as we look at the painting. He gives us no guidance on how to view his work, but rather invites us to engage in religious meditation on the act of salvation portrayed in the painting.