Description
Oil, copper sheet (thick, hand-forged); 46 x 49 cm
The painting has an expert appraisal
Asking price 35000
Estimate 40000 - 50000
The painting depicts the mourning of the dead Christ after being taken down from the cross. This depiction was very popular in ancient painting, however, based only on tradition and literature of mystics, and not on the gospels, in which such a scene is not described.
The scene involves the same people who stood at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion: Jesus' mother Mary, St. Mary Magdalene and St. John the Evangelist. In the offered painting, Christ's body, in accordance with 17th-century iconography, rests on a cloth spread on the ground, and his torso is supported by Mary's bosom. Moreover, Christ's body is depicted frontally, which, in accordance with post-Tridentine theology, emphasizes the sacramental aspect of the depiction. It is also highlighted in Mary's posture - suffering, but at the same time offering her son as a sacrifice. The other figures in the depiction Mary Magdalene and John are in mourning, waiting to prepare the body for burial. The scene is accompanied by angels supporting Christ's hands and feet.
Compositionally, the painting uses a number of traditional patterns of iconography of the dead Christ, the Pietà scene (in which Mary supports the body of her Son on her knees) or the Angelic Pietà, in which the Savior's inert body is supported by angels.
The scene is depicted in a landscape, but the flat, backdrop composition of the landscape is only a backdrop for the foreground group, clearly brought out by light.
Compositionally and stylistically, the painting in question refers to many earlier patterns, both iconographic and artistic. Determining the name of the author is extremely difficult. It is probably the work of an Italian painter belonging to the trend of Baroque Classicism initiated by the painterly Carracci family of Bologna. The author of the painting was most likely active in central Italy, perhaps in Rome or Bologna, two centers where the Carracci influence was particularly strong. The author of the painting cites compositional and stylistic motifs in the work of the Carracci family, most notably Annibale Carracci, but was most likely active later than them, perhaps around the mid-17th century.
The painting is painted on copper plate. This was not a common sub-image in modern painting, like boards or canvases, but was used as a substrate for small paintings intended for private devotions or objects of a collector's nature.
The offered work, due to its subject matter and size, was most likely a devotional painting for private prayer and contemplation.
