The “White Crucifixion” by Marc Chagall for Pope’s residence, Casa Santa Marta, in the Vatican
Bottega Tifernate realizes the identical re-creation of Chagall’s “White Crucifixion” for His Holiness Pope Francis
The “White Crucifixion”: The original
This artwork was painted with oil on canvas, 155×140 centimeters made by Marc Chagall. It is situated in The Art Institute of Chicago. Chagall made his artwork at the same time as the Night of Crystals. This is remembered as one of the main moments of the Jewish persecution, as object of a bloody racial violence. With this painting, the artist wants to denounce the unfair persecution suffered by the people, and he achieves it by putting the figure of the Crucified Christ in the middle, considering him the archetype of the Judaic martyrdom. Chagall shall draw up a picture which is detached from the Jewish culture but, by this painting, he tries to highlight the meeting points between his and the Christian culture. Francis Pope appreciates a lot this iconography.
The relationship between the “White Crucifixion” and Francis Pope
Regarding the relationship between the Jewish and the Christian cultures highlighted in the artwork, Pope Francesco said that this is his favorite painting. The Holy Father saw this artwork in an exhibition in Florence and he felt so in love with this artwork that he requested to have it in his own residence.
Città di Castello gets to the Pope’s residence in the Vatican
The artwork of a new representation for Casa Santa Marta was entrusted to Bottega Tifernate in Città di Castello. After six months of hard work, the ” White Crucifixion ” was delivered on Wednesday 18th December 2019 directly to the Pope at Casa Santa Marta. The artwork was realized by analyzing the original, and it has been reported in a reduced version. The representation of the artwork is,is in fact,2,5 times smaller than the original one.
Pictography is a technique that allows you to transfer pure paint currently on every surface even if the research focuses on the supports traditionally used by artists of the past such as the fresco, the canvas and the wood panel. These supports are treated with Renaissance methods and recipes: this allows to obtain a perfect reproduction of the image both in terms of aesthetic impact and quality. Pictography is a guarantee of durability.
Top quality for Pope Francesco
Obviously, the technique of pictografia has been exploited for an important reproduction. The picture has been realized entirely with natural pigments based on oxides. These provide a long life to the artwork and a greater resistance to light. The copy of the “White Crucifixion” presents this format: 60×53,5 centimeters. This is possible by specific tools which don’t allow the loss of details.
A special delivery
The exact copy of the “White Crucifixion” was made and delivered to Pope Francesco on semi-finished canvas by hand with chassis, inserted in a frame of wood.
