Jesus Crucified between the two thieves, bronze, second half of 16th century (inv. bronzi 82, 83, 84)

Location: Rocchetta, 2nd floor, Room XXXII

The tension of the bodies and rendering of the muscles in the bronze group depicting Christ crucified between the two thieves, betrays a clearly Michelangelesque style, particularly in the figure of the impenitent thief. The position of this subject, whose left leg is fully bent, is an unambiguous reference to a drawing by Michelangelo housed at the Teylers Museum in Haarlem (inv. 18). Given the likely Lombard provenance of the group, it has been speculated to be the work of sculptor Annibale Fontana or according to other scholars that of Guglielmo della Porta.
The existence of another two groups of the same subject, preserved in the Diocesan Museum of Hildesheim and the Metropolitan Museum in New York is particularly interesting.
The positive attribution of the three groups remains problematic; however they can be dated to the second half of the 16th century.
The group belonged to the collection of the painter Giuseppe Bossi.