The Crucifix in stone is sculpted in high relief, measuring 43.0 × 25.5 × 7.0 cm, with an incised inscription on the back bearing the signature, location, and date: “C. Br. CRAIOVA 1895”. Brancusi created this sculpture during his years at the School of Arts and Crafts in Craiova, outside the school curriculum.

Brancusi’s Crucifix is a typical representation of the Catholic Church, into which the sculptor innovatively introduces certain elements characteristic of Byzantine icons: enlarged eyes, a small mouth, a straight and slender nose, and hair and beard depicted in slightly wavy locks.

This crucifix demonstrates the sublimation of the forms of Jesus Christ and the monumental quality of the sculpture. Brancusi’s vision of the crucified Christ mentally evokes Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man (1492). Comparing da Vinci’s drawing, considered the representation of the ideal male body, with Brancusi’s sculpture, one can observe that he similarly sought to establish an optimal relationship among the body’s dimensions, according to the knowledge he possessed at the time.

Description of the Work

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