Lamentation of Christ
The Lamentation of Christ[1] is a very common subject in Christian art from the High Middle Ages to the Baroque.[2] After Jesus was crucified, his body was removed from the cross and his friends mourned over his body. This event has been depicted by many different artists.
Lamentation works are very often included in cycles of the
Development of the depiction
As the depiction of the
The
The laying-out of Jesus' body on a slab or
From these different images another type, the Lamentation itself, arose from the 11th century, always giving a more prominent position to Mary, who either holds the body, and later has it across her lap, or sometimes falls back in a state of collapse as Joseph and others hold the body. In a very early Byzantine depiction of the 11th century,[7] a scene of this type is placed just outside the mouth of the tomb, but around the same time other images place the scene at the foot of the empty cross—in effect relocating it in both time (to before the bearing, laying-out and anointing of the body) as well as space. This became the standard scene in Western Gothic art, and even when the cross is subsequently seen less often, the landscape background is usually retained. In Early Netherlandish painting of the 15th century the three crosses often appear in the background of the painting, a short distance from the scene.
Lamentations did not appear in art north of the Alps until the 14th century, but then became very popular there, and Northern versions further developed the centrality of Mary to the composition.[8] The typical position of Christ's body changes from being flat on the ground or slab, usually seen in profile across the centre of the work, to the upper torso being raised by Mary or others, and finally being held in a near-vertical position, seen frontally, or across Mary's lap. Mary Magdalene typically holds Jesus' feet, and Joseph is usually a bearded older man, often richly dressed. In fully populated Lamentations the figures shown with the body include The Three Marys, John the Apostle, Joseph and Nicodemus, and often others of both sexes, not to mention angels and donor portraits.[9]
The Deposition of Christ and the Lamentation or Pietà form the 13th of the
It is not always possible to say clearly whether a particular image should be regarded as a Lamentation or one of the other related subjects discussed above, and museums and art historians are not always consistent in their naming. The famous Mantegna painting, clearly motivated by an interest in
Gallery
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Lamentation of Christ found in theChurch of St. Panteleimon (Nerezi)in Macedonia. The fresco dates back to the 12th century.
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Lamentation by Andrea Mantegna. See above.
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A post-Byzantine (Theophanes of Crete. 1st half of 16th century.
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An individual Lamentation from the Rohan Hours. The grieving Virgin cannot be consoled by the Apostle John, who looks up in consternation at a saddened God.
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Lamentation by Simon Marmion, with the three crosses high on the hill behind.
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Lamentation of Christ, c. 1500, Albrecht Dürer, set at the foot of the cross.
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Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels, c. 1472, Carlo Crivelli, (Philadelphia Museum of Art)
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Lamentation by Dosso Dossi
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Lamentation by Giovanni Bellini
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Lamentation of Christ by Mary and John by Peter Paul Rubens
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Lamentation (Pietà), attributed to Petrus Christus
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Lamentation or Entombment?Chiaroscuro woodcut by Andrea Andreani.
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A modern Lamentation, inSymbolist style by Bela Čikoš Sesija
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A modern Orthodox icon of the 'Epitaphios Threnos' (Lamentation at the Tomb).
Works with articles
- Lamentation of Christ (Dirk Bouts), c.1455-1460
- Lamentation of Christ (van der Weyden), 1460s
- Lamentation over the Dead Christ with Saints (Botticelli)
- Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Botticelli)
- Lamentation of Christ (Mantegna)
- Lamentation (Pietà) by Petrus Christus
- Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Perugino), 1495
- Lamentation of Christ (Dürer, Nuremberg), c. 1498
- Lamentation of Christ (Dürer, Munich), c. 1500
- Lamentation of Christ (Master of the Žebrák Lamentation of Christ), wood relief, c. 1510
- Lamentation (Gerard David), c. 1520
- Lamentation of Christ (Massys), 1511
- Lamentation of Christ, by Maarten van Heemskerck, c. 1540
See also
- Life of Christ in art
- Life of Jesus in the New Testament
Notes
- ^ In addition to "Lamentation" and "Lamentation of Christ", the terms "Lamentation over the Dead Christ", "Lamentation over the Body of Christ", and Lamentation of the Virgin are also used.
- ^ Schiller, 178
- ^ In English usually used for images showing only Mary and Jesus, but in Italian used for Lamentations generally.
- ^ Schiller, 164 lists examples
- ^ Schiller, 164-5
- ^ Schiller 168-72
- ^ Schiller, 174
- ^ Schiller, 176
- ^ Schiller, 174-9
- ^ Schiller, 178-9
- ^ Lamentation of Christ Triptych Sold for 1.46 Million Euros
References
- G. Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. II, 1972 (English trans. from German), Lund Humphries, London, pp. 164–181, figs 540-639, ISBN 0-85331-324-5