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| The Meditation on the Passion |
Artist:Vittore Carpaccio (Italian, Venice 1460/66?–1525/26 Venice)
Date:ca. 1490
Medium:Oil and tempera on wood
Dimensions:Overall 27 3/4 x 34 1/8in. (70.5 x 86.7cm); painted surface 26 3/16 × 33 1/4 in. (66.5 × 84.5 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1911
This remarkable picture is a meditation on Death and Resurrection. Christ’s dead body is displayed on a broken throne inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew. A bird—symbol of the soul—flies upwards. The landscape—contrastingly barren and lush—alludes to the themes of death and life, as do the animals. The Old Testament prophet Job sits on a block inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew while opposite is Saint Jerome (ca. 347–420), who wrote a commentary on the book of Job. The turbaned figures in the background would have been familiar to Venetians through their trade with the Middle East and Egypt.
Provenance
Roberto Canonici, Ferrara (in 1632); the Canonici family, Ferrara (until about 1850); Sir William Neville Abdy, 2nd Baronet, London and The Elms, Newdigate, Dorking (by 1881–d. 1910; his estate sale, Christie's, London, May 5, 1911, no. 92, as "A Pietà," by Carpaccio, for £12,950 to Sulley); [Sulley and Co., London, 1911; sold to MMA]
Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org
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