Crucifixion with Two Angels 1535 - 1545

Curator: Looking at this engraving from the mid-16th century, the "Crucifixion with Two Angels," a collaborative piece etched and engraved by Giulio Bonasone, one immediately grasps its emotional intensity. It exemplifies how printmaking circulated powerful imagery in Renaissance Europe. Editor: Yes, a palpable grief permeates this composition. The texture created with etching is truly something—it contributes to the sorrowful weight of the moment, almost pressing down on us. But those two weeping angels… they amplify the symbolic richness here, don’t they? Curator: Absolutely. The inclusion of those angels, nestled within billowing clouds, places this crucifixion scene on a more cosmic stage. The artist effectively merges earthly suffering with the divine realm. Bonasone used his etching needle masterfully to make this print from a drawing after Michelangelo. Printmaking as we well know offered greater access to images, even in times such as those! Editor: Consider also how the city nestled into the distant landscape at the bottom of the piece contrasts so dramatically with the cross looming so vertically into the space! And beneath it, the stark reminder of mortality—the skull and bones—anchors the image, driving home that emotional punch! The symbolism layered here creates such lasting resonance. Curator: I find it fascinating how Bonasone navigated the politics inherent in reproducing another artist's work. Whose vision are we truly seeing? He walks a fascinating line between faithful reproduction, and unique commentary on it through a medium. Editor: A very fine line indeed, but no matter who did what, I will continue to meditate on that skull forever and wonder whose likenesses rest in those angels' faces as well as ponder all those rolling hills with their picturesque rooftops... What a lasting artwork! Curator: Precisely. And while we appreciate Bonasone, reflecting on the print highlights the complex intersections of religion, artistic innovation, and cultural distribution that shaped Renaissance society and our modern visual vernacular!