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Painting by Giovanni Bellini
Lamentation over the Dead Christ
is a
c.
1500
tempera-on-panel
painting by the Italian Renaissance master
Giovanni Bellini
kept at the
Uffizi Gallery
in Florence.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
The incomplete painting may have been intended as a reference image for Bellini's workshop or an underdrawing for a full painting. It was given to
Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
by doge
Alvise Giovanni Mocenigo
in return for a
pietra dura
snuffbox, decorated with gold and gems. Later, the Grand Duke gave tempera painting to the
Uffizi Gallery
on 22 October 1798, where it is still on display.
Critics have generally agreed that the painting was executed around the peak of Bellini's career, around the turn of the 16th century.
Description and style
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The
Lamentation
is painted in
chiaroscuro
. The painting exhibits a graphic visual style upon wooden support. Although it looks like a monochromatic sketch, the painting displays a high degree of intention. The ground is not prepared but actually forms a layer of the painting.
Compared to other
Pieta
compositions by Bellini, the
Lamentation
is more crowded. The dead Christ is at the center of the painting in a seated position. He is supported on the side by an expressive Madonna and
Saint John the Baptist
. On the left, Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimthea are both recognizable. Above, three figures are painted more faintly: a girl, a bald, bearded man, and
Nicodemus
, the elderly monk with the long beard. There is a study for the figure of Nicodemus in the Uffizi's drawing collection, the
Gabinetto dei disegni e delle stampe
[
it
]
.
The protruding knees of Christ, foreshortened, break the illusion of the painting's separation from its viewer.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Olivari, Mariolina.
Giovanni Bellini
. Florence: Scala.
ISBN
888117099X
.
External links
[
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]
Catalog entry
References
[
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]
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