Collection Publications: Reflections of the Passion (y1979-47)

By the end of the sixteenth century, the Catholic Church required that a crucifix be placed on church altars to mark the place where Christ's death on the cross was reenacted. Gianlorenzo Bernini, assisted by Ercole Ferrata, designed bron ze crucifixes for each of the side altars of the newly rebuilt St. Peter's in Rome. The two models featured Christ's body either dead (Cristo morto) or, as in this example, alive (Cristo vivo). The monumental style of Bernini, close in spirit to the work of Peter Paul Rubens, was well suited to the triumphant spirit of the Counter Reformation.