Crucifixion was a grisly but common capital punishment throughout the Roman Empire. Matteo di Giovanni’s portrayal of Christ’s Crucifixion emphasizes the role of Roman soldiers in this event. As Jesus dies on the cross at center, his mother, the Virgin Mary, faints in grief at left. In contrast to the women tending to the Virgin, at right three callous Roman soldiers draw straws for a chance to win Jesus’s garments. Between these groups, flanking the dying Christ, appear two figures with hexagonal halos. These represent Longinus and the centurion: Roman soldiers who converted to Christianity on witnessing the Crucifixion.