Angels Pity 1470

Carlo Crivelli painted *Angels Pity* in the late fifteenth century, rendering oil and tempera on panel. In this period, Italian city-states commissioned devotional images to reflect their wealth and piety. Crivelli, working primarily in the Adriatic Marche, combined the prevailing naturalism with elaborate, decorative elements. Here, Christ is freshly wounded, the marks of the crucifixion visible against the gold background, yet he is framed by the embrace of two angels. The sweetness of their embrace encourages empathy, but it does not disguise the brutality that is also on display. How might Crivelli’s patrons have displayed such a paradox? Was this a private image of contemplation or a public symbol of repentance? These are the kinds of questions that a close look at patronage records and the social history of religious practice can help us to answer.