작품 상세

Spanish school. 17th -18th century. “The Deposition of Christ.” Oil on copper.  43 x 34,5 cm.    Since the Renaissance, it has been customary to combine in the same scene the episodes that follow the Descent (after Christ's body is taken down from the cross, the Pietà, the dead Christ held by angels, etc.), making them appear to be the same, but they are different scenes, though not distant from each other.  Ours, specifically, is a concatenation of the previous ones, “The Deposition of Christ's body and the lamentation over his death.” This is the name that art historians usually give to an evangelical scene that culminates the cycle of the Passion of Christ, which gave rise to a widely used artistic theme in Christian art, especially in religious painting and imagery. It reflects the exact moment when Christ's body is laid in his tomb (Deposizione in Italian), it is the “Burial of Christ or Holy Burial” (Mise au Tombeau “Placing in the Tomb” in French). The theme of the “Transfer of Christ” (Transporto in Italian) is also closely related. In both a Transfer and a Holy Burial, or in a Lamentation or Weeping over the Dead Christ, female figures are often depicted weeping (mourners, on the right of our work: Mary, the mother of Jesus, talking to Mary Magdalene—without a veil or earrings—and two behind the Mother, Mary of Cleophas and Mary Salome), representing the Holy Women (iconographically linked to the jars of perfume for the preparation of the corpse). Other characters that often appear and that we see in our copperplate engraving are Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and the apostle John, the two bearded men holding the body from behind, and the young man on the left, dressed in red and green, holding the torch, the same evangelist who narrates and sheds light on the story because he was present. A executioner holds the dead body by the legs (Simon of Cyrene, who was forced to help Jesus carry the cross on the way to Calvary), wrapped in the shroud, and the feet are held by Peter, the disciple who denied him. A chiaroscuro with Mount Calvary in the background on the left, and a scene illuminated by a spotlight on the central figure, wrapped in a shroud, and indirect light from the torch, cast on the surrounding faces. A scene that delves into the silence of lived grief, and which—due to its format—deeply moves the viewer to devotion.