Crucifixus

Biography

Crucifixus is an 1884 painting by Russian artist Nikolai Ge. It is housed in the collection of the Museum of Don Cossacks, Novocherkassk, where it forms part of the permanent exhibition at the Ataman Palace. Researchers believe that the painting was commissioned by an unidentified Lutheran or Catholic church. The painting was acquired by the museum prior to the Second World War, and during the 1970s, it was included in the exhibition of paintings by painters of the Society for Travelling Art Exhibitions. Crucifixius drew the attention of art historians and culturologists in 2011, when the State Tretyakov Gallery prepared the exhibition, "What is Truth?'. Nikolai Ge. To the 180th anniversary of his birth." The canvas was subjected to infrared spectroscopy, the paint layer and ground were chemically analysed, and archival documents were lifted. A group of researchers presented a report on the painting at an international scientific conference in Moscow, held concurrently with the exhibition (the conference materials were published in 2014). In 2012, the scientific journal Russkoye Iskusstvo published a comprehensive article on the subject of Crucifixus. The article was authored by Tatiana Karpova, a Doctor of Art History, and Lidia Gladkova, Head of the Department of Scientific Expertise of the State Tretyakov Gallery. In 2011-2012, the discovery of a new painting by Nikolai Ge was widely discussed in the Russian press. Articles devoted to the painting were published in leading central and regional print media. These include both business and socio-political publications, as well as tabloids: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moskovskij Komsomolets, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Argumenty i Fakty...

Bio from Wikipedia