Santa Croce Crucifix by Cimabue was created between 1287 and 1288 using tempera on panel. This large painted crucifix is a significant example of late thirteenth-century Florentine art and marks an important moment in the transition from Byzantine to more naturalistic approaches in Italian painting. The work was made for the church of Santa Croce in Florence and is one of the most important surviving commissions of Cimabue, a leading painter of his generation. The composition centers on the figure of Christ crucified, rendered with a pronounced sense of physical suffering and human vulnerability.

The body of Christ is elongated and leans to one side, with a visible expression of pain and sorrow. The cross itself is bordered in gold and decorated with geometric patterns, while the terminals of the crossbar feature half-length figures of the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, both depicted in mourning. The use of tempera produces a matte surface, and the palette is dominated by gold, deep blues, and earth tones, emphasizing the solemnity of the scene. Commissioned for the Franciscan church of Santa Croce, the Santa Croce Crucifix was intended as a devotional image for public veneration.

Over the centuries, it has been recognized as a key work in the development of Italian panel painting and has been studied for its stylistic innovations and emotional intensity. This photograph shows the crucifix before the Florence flood of 1966, which badly damaged it.