The Dead Christ Supported by Angels

Four angels support the pallid body of the dead Christ and draw the viewer's attention to the wounds from his crucifixion. The angel at the left, with an expression of deep sorrow, looks out at viewers as if encouraging them to meditate on Christ's suffering.

Images of the dead Christ supported by angels first appeared in Padua, near Venice, in the first half of the 1400s. By the middle of the century it was popular throughout northern Italy, especially in works intended for domestic interiors. This example has been attributed to Filippo Mazzola, a native of Parma in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Mazzola probably worked in Venice and was certainly aware of the many versions of the subject by the most famous Venetian painter of the period, Giovanni Bellini (see 37.446). Bellini’s influence can be seen in this painting in the careful depiction of light. Note the subtle shadow cast by Christ’s hand on the body of the angel at the right or the delicate “chiaroscuro” (contrasts of light and dark) modeling Christ’s face.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

William T. / Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore, prior to 1916 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.