Antonio Bonvicino and Venetian crucifixes of the early Quattrocento

In the right-hand chapel ("in cornu Epistolae") of the parish church of Santi Apollinare e Cristoforo in the hamlet of Casteldimezzo is a Venetian crucifix which not only is the finest crucifix produced at Venice in the Early Renaissance, but has the unique distinction of being signed with its makers' names. Below the figure of Christ is a "cartello," which includes an inscription that loosely translate as "Antonio Bonvicino woodcarver (carved) this work (in) Venice, Jacomello de Fiore painter. In the literature on the Venetian painter Jacobello del Fiore, the crucifix makes frequent appearances as a secure work executed early in his career. But no one has yet inquired into the identity of Antonio Bonvicino. [Revised Publication Abstract]