Christ at the Column with the Virgin Mary, St John the Evangelist and the Patrons
Dated 1578 but unsigned, this painting shows a reasonable quality of painting and trends which draw on Nordic styles.
Its provenance is uncertain, although Foschi indicates that it was one of the works transferred from the cathedral in Cervia Vecchia, where it decorated the altar of the Holy Sacrament (Foschi, 1977). More recently, some scholars have suggested that the painter could have been Ernst Van Schayck (1567-1626/1631), an artist originally from Utrecht (Viroli, 1991; Gori, 2001).
Professor Giordano Viroli, during a survey of the altarpieces in religious buildings in the province of Ravenna, conducted in the late 1980s and the early 1990s on behalf of the Cultural Heritage Department led by the great Andrea Emiliani, noted a high level of quality for its composition and rendering of figures, in addition to the evident “Nordic inspiration” (Viroli, 1991). The canvas bears the following wording:
“HAS EGO CRVDELES HOMO/ PRO TE PERFERO PLAGAS/ ATQ MEO MORBOS SANGVINE/ CURO TVOS/ VVLNERIBVS MEIS TVA/ VVLNERA MORTEQ MORTEM/ TOLO DEVS PRO TE PLASMATE/ FACTVS HOMO/ TVQ INGRATE MIHI/ PVNGI MEA STIGMATA CVLPIS/ SAEPE TVIS NOXA VAPVLO/ SAEPE TVA/ SAT FVERIT METANTA/ OLIM TORMENTA SVB HOSTE/ IVDAEO PASSVM/ NVNC SIT AMICE QVIES/ MDLXXVIII/ PROPTIVS ESTO/ MIHI PECCATORI”. "
