Explained: Why the Ashmolean Museum paid £4.48m for a 600 year-old artwork
The Early Renaissance masterpiece will stay in England as part of the Ashmolean's permanent collection.
The Ashmolean has announced that it had completed the purchase of 15th century artist Fra Angelico’s work Crucifixion for almost £4.5 million, following a nine-month fundraising campaign.
The purchase, which the museum considers “a substantial reduction in its market price”, was made possible after the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport temporarily delayed the artwork’s export after it was sold to an overseas buyer.
Created in Florence’s Convent of San Marco in the 1420s, the small artwork has been in the UK for around 200 years and will now remain in Oxford permanently, where it will be housed in the Ashmolean’s Early Italian Art gallery.
Why is Crucifixion so significant?
One of Fra Angelico’s earliest surviving artworks, Crucifixion is described as an “innovative and beautiful work by one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance” by the Ashmolean’s Professor Jennifer Sliwka.
Fra Angelico’s ability to convey feeling through his artwork made him one of Western Art’s most influential figures, and inspired generations of artists from Michelangelo to Mark Rothko.
16th century painter and historian Giorgio Vasari wrote of Fra Angelico that “whenever he painted a Crucifixion, the tears would stream down his face”, a depth of emotion reflected in his painting’s subjects thanks to a careful focus on faces and hands.
Most of Fra Angelico’s works are large frescos and altarpieces that remain in situ in Florence or Rome. Crucifixion is one of the few works by Fra Angelico in England, and one of only two residing outside London, alongside a triptych depicting the Virgin Mary also in Oxford’s Ashmolean.
Dr Xa Sturgis, Director of the Ashmolean, said “I am thrilled that millions of visitors who come through our doors will now be able to enjoy this beautiful, moving and important work”
Visitors to the Ashmolean will be able to see Crucifixion for free once it is on display.