Il De cruce libri tres di Giusto Lipsio: una fonte iconografica fra l'Italia e la Spagna

The article highlights the role of Justus Lipsius's De cruce libri tres as a source for representations of crucifixions on the basis of the influence of Lipsian neo-stoic thought in the arts between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through Lipsius's ties of friendship with Cesare Baronio and because of the presence of De cruce libri tres within numerous Italian libraries. In Spain, the popularity of Lipsian thought, is revealed by the presence of Justus Lipsius's complete works in the library of Count Duke Olivares and by iconographic references in some subjects commissioned from Ribera. Within the Sevillian context, moreover, Pacheco reveals himself to be a reader of Lipsius in defining his own theory on the iconography of the cross, later taken up in the paintings of Velázquez and Zurbarán.