Crucifixion

Within a simple smooth frame are depicted Golgotha and the key figures of the final scenes of the Passion. The Crucifixion is shown at the top left, where there are three crucifixes and the grieving figures of the Virgin, a pious woman, Mary Magdalene, and Saint John. On the right stands a rocky outcrop with fortified structures and Templars, at the base of which emerges a procession of armed soldiers, led by two men engaged in bargaining. In the center are foot soldiers and standard-bearers pointing to the hill of the Crucifixion, while in the foreground other soldiers gamble for Jesus’ clothes with dice among ancient ruins. The wooden mosaic, which incorporates various types of wood and features a graphic texture defined by dark paste incisions, is enhanced—in alignment with the distinctive style of Fra Damiano Zambelli (circa 1480–1549)—by the addition of black wood fragments and pewter tiles. These elements distinctly characterize the sword sheaths and the metallic surfaces of the gendarmes’ spears. The inlay exemplifies the practice of reusing preparatory cartoons, which was common in the workshops of inlayers since the fifteenth century. The same subject—potentially derived from a drawing by Francesco Menzocchi from Forlì—is replicated with minor variations in other works attributed to Fra Damiano, all dating from the 1530s and 1540s. These include a panel housed in the Davia Bargellini Museum in Bologna, another piece formerly owned by the Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach family now held in a private collection, and a postergale from the choir of San Domenico in Bologna—a monumental project that engaged the friar in the final decade of his career (Mascheretti 2021). The example in the Palazzo Venezia Museum, despite its current poor condition, possesses a distinguished provenance. It aligns with the work documented between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in the Roman collection of Cardinal Francesco Saverio de Zelada (Rome, 1717–1801), who was of Spanish origin. Cardinal Zelada had amassed a significant collection through purchases, donations, exchanges, and annexations at Palazzo Conti in Via delle Botteghe Oscure, noted for its early interest in the “primitives” as well as a substantial number of statues, artificialia, naturalia, and scientific instruments (Miarelli Mariani 2001; De Angelis 2002, 41–54; Micheli 2003, 231–241). The inlay was observed by Jean-Baptiste Séroux d’Agincourt, who illustrated it in the sixth volume of his Histoire de l’art par les monuments. He attributed it to Giuliano or Benedetto da Maiano, within the section devoted to genres of painting executed on various materials (Séroux d’Agincourt 1823, vol. III, 160–161; vol. VI, plate CLXVIII no. 2; Ticozzi 1826–1829, vol. VI, 451–452). Following the death of Cardinal Zelada, his collection was distributed according to his will. The antiquarian and natural history museum was designated for the Collegio Romano, especially the Kircherian Museum (Pietrangeli 1986, 153–198). In 1909, items began to be transferred to Castel Sant’Angelo from the Collegio Romano as part of efforts to collect artistic materials from various public institutions and private collectors to establish the Museum of the City of Rome, covering the period from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age (Nicita 2009, 275). It is likely that this included the inlay depicting the Crucifixion, as well as another wooden piece by Fra Damiano Zambelli representing the Road to Calvary (inv. 1693, see relevant entry), which may have a similar origin. Following the failure of the initiative, Castel Sant’Angelo transferred the two works to Palazzo Venezia between November 1919 and May 1920, as recorded in the Museum of Palazzo Venezia's historical archives. 

Lorenzo Mascheretti

Entry published on 12 June 2025

Very compromised.

Rome, Francesco Saverio de Zelada, before 1801;
Rome, Collegio Romano (?);
Rome, Museo di Castel Sant’Angelo, before 1919;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, purchased in 1919–1920.

Séroux d’Agincourt Jean-Baptiste, Histoire de l’art par les monuments, depuis sa décadence au IVe siècle jusqu’à son renouvellement au XVIe, Paris 1823;
Ticozzi Stefano, Storia dell’arte dimostrata coi monumenti dalla sua decadenza nel IV secolo fino al suo Risorgimento nel XVI di G.B.L.G. Séroux d’Agincourt, Prato 1829;
Pietrangeli Carlo, L’appartamento del cardinal Zelada in Vaticano, in «Bollettino. Monumenti, musei e gallerie pontificie», 6, 1986, pp. 153-198;
Miarelli Mariani Ilaria, Jean-Baptiste Séroux d’Agiucourt e il collezionismo di “primitivi” a Roma nella seconda metà del Settecento, in Nocca Marco (a cura di), Le quattro voci del mondo: arte, culture e saperi nella collezione di Stefano Borgia 1731-1804, Giornate internazionali di studi, Napoli 2001, pp. 123-134;
De Angelis Alberto, La collezione dei primitivi del cardinale Francesco Saverio de Zelada (1717-1801), in «Ricerche di storia dell’arte», 77, 2002, pp. 41-54;
Micheli Maria Elisa, Naturalia e artificialia nelle raccolte del cardinale Francesco Saverio de Zelada, in Béltran Fortes José, Cacciotti Beatrice, Dupré Raventos Xavier, Palma Venetucci Beatrice (a cura di), Illuminismo e ilustración: le antichità e i loro protagonisti in Spagna e in Italia nel XVIII secolo,  Roma 2003, pp. 231-241;
Nicita Paola, Musei e storia dell'arte a Roma, Roma 2009, p. 275;
Mascheretti Lorenzo (a cura di), Fuori dai cori. Tre “quadri di tarsia” di fra Damiano Zambelli da Bergamo, catalogo della mostra (Bologna, Museo Davia Bargellini, 2 ottobre-5 dicembre 2021), Paris 2021;
Mascheretti Lorenzo, L’intarsio ligneo all’incrocio delle arti. L’opera di fra Damiano Zambelli (1480 circa-1549), Roma-Bristol 2024, p. 318, catt. 20-21.