Christ Blessing
Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned man with long, honey-blond hair and beard faces us in front of a gold background in this vertical painting. The man has a long face and nose, with closed peach-colored lips, which turn slightly down at the corners. Almond-shaped, hazel-brown eyes under arched brows stare over our left shoulder. His rose-pink robe is covered by a spruce-blue mantle that drapes over the left shoulder, on our right, and wraps around the waist. The robe and mantle are trimmed with gold. His right hand, on our left, is raised with the index and middle fingers extended up. The other hand holds an open book so the pages face us. The top edge of the pages is burnt orange, and the left and right edges are moss green. The side facing us is inscribed in gold letters, “ECO SUM LUX MUNDI.” A halo incised into the gold background surrounds the man’s head, and clusters of five dots in dark red, blue, and black are placed at the top and to either side within the halo. The panel on which this is painted has a five-sided, angular arch on top that frames the man’s head. A border within the frame has a pattern of gray circles and scarlet-red diamonds against a navy-blue band. The border follows the contours of the panel but runs behind the man’s body, as if he stands in front of it. The panel is framed with dark wood.
Details
- Palette
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- Medium
- tempera on panel
- Dimensions
- painted surface (top of gilding): 73 × 52.6 cm (28 3/4 × 20 11/16 in.) painted surface (including painted border): 75.6 × 52.6 cm (29 3/4 × 20 11/16 in.) overall: 78.2 × 55.5 × 1.5 cm (30 13/16 × 21 7/8 × 9/16 in.)
- Department
- CIS-R
- Holding institution
- National Gallery of Art
- Image provider
- national-gallery-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Art Genome Taxonomy
12 tags
Subject Matter
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Deities and Holy Figures Both · 100%
The title identifies Christ, and the image shows a haloed holy figure making a blessing gesture and holding a sacredly inscribed book.
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Text Both · 100%
The open book visibly contains lettering, and the museum description transcribes the inscription as “ECO SUM LUX MUNDI.”
Styles and Movements
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Medieval Art Metadata · 96%
The museum dates the work to c. 1310, placing it broadly within the medieval period.
Visual Qualities
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Balance Visual · 94%
The centered figure, halo, arch, and border establish a strongly centered and visually balanced composition, despite the asymmetry introduced by the book and gesture.
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Highly Ornamented Visual · 96%
The halo, garment trim, arch, and surrounding border contain extensive repeated decorative detailing and ornament.
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Cracked Visual · 100%
Extensive craquelure and surface cracking are clearly visible across the gold ground, flesh, garments, and book.
Medium and Techniques
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Painting Both · 100%
The museum metadata classifies the work as a painting, and the image visibly presents a painted figure on a vertically oriented panel.
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Use of Traditional Techniques Metadata · 93%
The museum identifies the medium as tempera on panel, supporting the use of a traditional painting technique.
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Frontal Perspective Visual · 98%
Christ is presented in a strongly frontal arrangement, facing the viewer with the head and torso aligned toward the picture plane.
Time Periods
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1000 - 1400 CE Art Metadata · 100%
The catalog date of c. 1310 falls within the 1000–1400 CE range.
Materials
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Gold Both · 89%
The image visibly shows a luminous gold-colored ground, and the museum description explicitly identifies it as a gold background; the precise ground material is not specified in the medium field.
Cultural and Religious Styles
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Christian Art and Architecture Both · 99%
Christological imagery, the halo, blessing gesture, and Christian inscription support the work’s classification within Christian art.
Source & rights
Grifo di Tancredi. Christ Blessing. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.