The model represented here - the so-called 'left-arching' Cristo Vivo, depicting Christ alive on the cross and uttering his final words - is among the rarest compositions devised by Giambologna. Only a handful of casts are known, and once later or inferior examples are excluded, the model appears to survive in just three versions datable to within the artist’s lifetime. Two of these, have a historic Spanish provenance, and one is definitively connected to a gift made by the Medici court in 1603.

Within this extremely limited group, the present bronze stands apart for the remarkable precision of its modelling and the exceptional quality of its post-casting finish. The refined treatment of the hair and beard, the sharply articulated ribcage, and the carefully structured drapery of the loincloth reveal a level of execution surpassing the other known examples. Such refinement, combined with documentary evidence, plausibly suggests that it might have been made for either Ferdinando I or Cosimo II de’ Medici between 1590 and 1609, and represents the most accomplished realisation of Giambologna’s invention by Susini. As such, it may be regarded as one of the qualitative highpoints of their celebrated collaboration.