The Lamentation

The Lamentation

The Lamentation

Artist:
Petrus Christus (Netherlandish, Baarle-Hertog (Baerle-Duc), active by 1444–died 1475/76 Bruges)
Date:
ca. 1450
Medium:
Oil on wood
Dimensions:
Overall 10 1/8 x 14 in. (25.7 x 35.6 cm); painted surface 10 x 13 3/4 in. (25.4 x 34.9 cm)
Classification:
Paintings
Credit Line:
Marquand Collection, Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1890

Intended for private devotion, this painting depicts the lamentation over Christ's dead body in terms conducive to empathetic contemplation. The figures of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus lifting Christ’s dead body would have stood out, as they are dressed in contemporary attire, reflecting the viewer's own world. Mary’s limp pose is meant to suggest her co-suffering with her son and affirms her role as co-redeemer. The painting may have been exported to Italy, since it inspired a marble relief by Antonello Gagini in Palermo Cathedral, Sicily.

Provenance
Albert John Hamborough, Steephill Castle, Ventnor, Isle of Wight (until 1887); Sir John Charles Robinson, Newton Manor, Swanage, Dorset (from 1887); Henry G. Marquand, New York (by 1889–90)

Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org