The Crucifixion, from the Venetian Set, 1739-1743

In Venice, John Baptist Jackson received the support of British consul Joseph Smith to produce a suite of large chiaroscuro woodcuts reproducing oil paintings by the Venetian masters Titian, Paulo Veronese, Jacopo Tinteretto, and Jacobo Bassano. This group of prints was subsequently published as a bound volume, commonly known as Jackson’s “Venetian Set,” by Giovanni Battista Pasquali in 1745. “The Crucifixion” is a triptych of chiaroscuro woodcuts that together reproduce Tintoretto’s 1565 “Crucifixion” located in Venice at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. In the center panel Christ’s cross has already been erected, and his followers gather below him. To the right and left, the criminals crucified alongside Christ are in the process of being nailed to the cross and erected into place. The left panel of the triptych depicts priests and members of the Sanhedrin. Roman soldiers populate the left panel. Jackson composed the prints with four tone blocks, each a varied shade of brown. Jackson’s use of three large sheets to reproduce Tintoretto’s broad, continuous composition, offered his viewers a better approximation of the original painting’s grandeur.