Investigations in 2001 appear to confirm the attribution to Michelangelo and that the sculpture was made for the high altar of the Church of Santo Spirito di Firenze in Florence, Italy.

[1] After the death of his protector, Lorenzo de' Medici, Michelangelo Buonarroti was a guest of the convent of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito in Florence when he was seventeen years old.

[1] Today the crucifix is hung in the octagonal sacristy of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito.

They assert that the removal of Christ's clothing by the Roman soldiers is the fulfilment of an Old Testament prophecy in Psalm 22:18, "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture."

Also present in the sculpture is a spear wound recorded similarly as inflicted into the side of Jesus by a Roman soldier.

[5] A journal, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) reports that: "several experts have cast doubts on the attribution, with the doyenne of Michelangelo cross studies, German art historian Margrit Lisner, saying it was probably a Sansovino" sculpture.

[5] In a book published by the Leipzig University Press in 2019,[6] the Milanese restaurator and art historian Antonio Forcellino takes a position in the discussion about the Michelangelo crucifix of Santo Spirito.