Design for a Crucifix with the Virgin Mary Bath Towel Set

Design for a Crucifix with the Virgin Mary, Saint Mary Magdalen, and Saint John. Like the studies for an altarpiece exhibited nearby, this drawing dates from the last phase of Polidoro's career, when he was active in Sicily. The haunting depiction of the Crucifixion shows Christ isolated on an elaborate reliquary-like cross rising from the trunk of a tree-an allusion to the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden that bore the forbidden fruit consumed by Adam and Eve, precipitating the fall from grace redeemed through Christ's sacrifice.