“The Dead Christ and Three Mourners” (“The Lamentation of Dead Christ”)
This tempera on canvas piece is by the Italian Renaissance artist, Andrea Mantegna, from 1470-1474, and is titled “The Dead Christ and Three Mourners” though it is often referred to as “The Lamentation of Dead Christ”. This piece depicts the body of Christ laid out on the stone of unction with the Virgin Mary, St. John, and Mary Magdalene, all weeping over his body. This is a common subject in Christian art.
The most obviously intriguing aspect of this piece is in the intense perspective which greatly increases the dramatic aspect of the scene. Mantegna was a master of perspective, which was a recently new innovation to art at this time, and realistically foreshortened the body of Christ as it may have appeared from this angle. It draws the viewer into the scene in such an intimate way that it seems that they are there.
Interestingly, he made the feet of Christ disproportionately smaller than they would be from this perspective, as he must have known that if they were kept to proper scale, they would have covered a great part of his body from view.
“The Dead Christ and Three Mourners” (“The Lamentation of Dead Christ”) was never sold during Mantegna’s lifetime and was found in his studio after his death by his sons. It may have been created for his own funeral but was sold by his son, Ludovico, to Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga to help pay off debts.
“The Dead Christ and Three Mourners” or “The Lamentation of Dead Christ” is currently on display at the Pinacoteca di Brera museum in Milan, Italy.
For more on Andrea Mantegna, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
