[1] The Crucifixion with Saint Mary Magdalene was first listed in the catalogue of Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia, where all the works of art seized from the city's suppressed monasteries and convents were brought in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Cavalcaselle and the catalogue by Masselli initially attributed it to Andrea del Castagno, until in 1879 Vischer argued it was an autograph work by Signorelli.

[2] On a background of a scenic, almost visionary, landscape, with rocky spurs and a sea with cresting waves, the crucified Christ is silhouetted, dark, and monumental.

In the background, at different distances (not always connected well), there are related scenes: the repentance of Peter, the deposition from the Cross with a pyramidal composition, and the transportation of the body of Christ.

The small flowers in the foreground pay tribute to Flemish art and to Leonardo da Vinci's scientific naturalism.