The crucified Christ is shown according to the model conceived by Giotto, with his lifeless body weighing on his bent knees and held in place by the nails in his hands and feet. The natural depiction of the abandoned body is accentuated by the position of the head and bust, both of which are tilting forwards. To the sides, Mary and St. John the Evangelist contemplate the Savior, hands joined together in a gesture of prayer and sorrow. Above the cross is a figure of a pelican, with blood on its breast, feeding its young, an allegory of Christ dying to redeem humanity. The man who commissioned the piece was perhaps a wealthy parishioner from San Piero Scheraggio, a medieval church incorporated into the Uffizi Palace.