L'affresco della Crocifissione nella sacrestia di Santa Lucia Novella a Fabriano: Una lettura iconografica

The present paper discusses the iconography of Allegretto Nuzi’s unusual Crucifixion
in the sacristy of the Dominican church of Santa Lucia Novella, Fabriano. The fresco depicts Joseph of Arimathea to the right of Christ and Longinus to his left, while the ruined building to the left of the Virgin Mary is interpreted as a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem which, according to the Gospel of Luke, was mentioned by Christ several times during his Passion. At the bottom right, a prostrate devil alludes to his own defeat through Christ’s salvific death on the cross. The fresco, then, does not provide an overall image of the events at Golgotha but emphasises certain details, thus offering various ideas for a systematic exploration of the significance of the Crucifixion. Moreover, the fresco is seen in the light of two Dominican texts that furnish narratives on the subject: Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda Aurea and the Specchio di Croce by Domenico Cavalca (d. 1342). The paper concludes with remarks about generic similarities with some of Fra Angelico’s frescoes in the convent of San Marco, Florence. Might the fresco in Fabriano be early evidence of a Dominican tradition that also influenced Fra Angelico?