Crucifixion with Vergin Mary

Christ hangs on a wooden cross against a dark, nocturnal sky and a starkly barren landscape of craggy mountains. To the left, the Virgin Mary sits in a state of quiet grief, while on the right, a tonsured monk in a black and white habit gestures toward the scene. Beneath the foot of the cross, a small cave contains a skull and two crossed bones, symbolizing the first man, Adam.

The inclusion of the skull at the base of the cross illustrates the 'New Adam' theology, where Christ's blood redeems the original sin of the first man supposedly buried at Golgotha. This motif emphasizes the intersection of mortality and spiritual rebirth, a core theme in early Renaissance devotional and philosophical thought regarding the restoration of humanity.