# The Pistoia Crucifix [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [TACCA, Pietro]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Bronze, height 87 cm \(corpus\), 167 cm \(overall\) ## Commentary This bronze has been called the most beautiful of many crucifixes ascribed to Pietro Tacca, including examples at the royal monastery of the Escorial in Spain and at the cathedrals of Prato and Pisa. Tacca, son of a marble merchant from Carrara, mastered bronze in Florence as a principal assistant to Giambologna, whom he succeeded in 1609 as sculptor to the Grand Duke. Although the twisting pose reflects the elegance of the celebrated older master, Tacca's personal pursuit of realism and pathos is revealed in the gaunt figure with protruding bones and also in flesh pushed up by nails, bulging closed eyes, and an aggressively spiky crown of thorns. ## Related artworks - [Abundance]() - [Abundance]() - [Equestrian Monument ot Ferdinando I de' Medici]() - [Equestrian Monument to Ferdinando I de' Medici]() - [Equestrian Monument to Philip IV]() - [Equestrian Statues of Philip III]() - [Equestrian Statues of Philip III]() - [Equestrian Statues of Philip III]() - [Equestrian Statues of Philip IV]() - [Equestrian Statues of Philip IV]() - [Equestrian Statues of Philip IV]() - [Fountain \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()