Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Botticelli, Munich)

Last updated
Lamentation over the Dead Christ
Lamentation - Botticelli.jpg
Artist Sandro Botticelli
Year1490–1492
MediumTempera on panel
Dimensions140 cm× 207 cm(55 in× 81 in)
LocationAlte Pinakothek, Munich

The Lamentation over the Dead Christ is a painting created by Sandro Botticelli. Botticelli was an Italian painter who was active in Florence, Italy and his works represent the late Italian Gothic and Renaissance periods. Some of his notable works include Primavera and The Birth of Venus . Botticelli was the apprentice of Filippo Lippi one of the leading Florentine painters of the time. In 1481, Botticelli completed some works for the Sistine Chapel; during the 1480s, he also completed works depicting mythological subjects. Botticelli became associated with the Florentine School under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici an era historians characterize as a golden age. The painter also completed portraits and manuscripts. [1]

Contents

The Lamentation of Christ is part of the cycle of the Life of Christ. After Jesus was crucified his remains were removed from the cross and his friends mourned over his body. One specific type of Lamentation depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Christ; popularly known as the Pietà (Italian for "pity"). The subject of the Lamentation of Christ has been painted since the inception of Christianity and it was a common subject of Italian Renaissance painters. Botticelli completed another version entitled Lamentation over the Dead Christ between 1490 and 1495. The current painting was completed around the same period between 1490–1492. It is now in the Alte Pinakothek, in Munich. [2] [3]

The portrait shows the inert body of Christ surrounded by the Virgin, St. Peter, and Mary Magdalene, St. John the Evangelist, St. Jerome and St. Paul.

The sad expressions of the characters were a novelty in Botticelli's art: under the spiritual influence of Savonarola's preachings in Florence, which began around the time the work was executed, he started in fact to abandon the allegoric inspiration that had made him a favorite of the Medici court in favor of more intimate and painstaking religious reflection. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uffizi</span> Art museum in Florence, Italy

The Uffizi Gallery is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of the largest and best-known in the world and holds a collection of priceless works, particularly from the period of the Italian Renaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandro Botticelli</span> Italian Renaissance painter (1445–1510)

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli or simply Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelites who stimulated a reappraisal of his work. Since then, his paintings have been seen to represent the linear grace of late Italian Gothic and some Early Renaissance painting, even though they date from the latter half of the Italian Renaissance period.

<i>The Birth of Venus</i> Painting by Sandro Botticelli

The Birth of Venus is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, probably executed in the mid 1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown. The painting is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domenico Ghirlandaio</span> Italian Renaissance painter from Florence (1448–1494)

Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi, professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of the so-called "third generation" of the Florentine Renaissance, along with Verrocchio, the Pollaiolo brothers and Sandro Botticelli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filippino Lippi</span> Italian painter (1457–1504)

Filippino Lippi was an Italian Renaissance painter mostly working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. He also worked in Rome for a period from 1488, and later in the Milan area and Bologna.

<i>Pallas and the Centaur</i> Painting by Sandro Botticelli

Pallas and the Centaur is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, c. 1482. It is now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It has been proposed as a companion piece to his Primavera, though it is a different shape. The medium used is tempera paints on canvas and its size is 207 x 148 cm. The painting has been retouched in many places, and these retouchings have faded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simonetta Vespucci</span> Italian noblewoman (1453–1476)

Simonetta Vespucci, nicknamed la bella Simonetta, was an Italian noblewoman from Genoa, the wife of Marco Vespucci of Florence and the cousin-in-law of Amerigo Vespucci. She was known as the greatest beauty of her age in Italy, and was allegedly the model for many paintings by Sandro Botticelli, Piero di Cosimo, and other Florentine painters. Some art historians have taken issue with these attributions, which the Victorian critic John Ruskin has been blamed for promulgating.

<i>The Mystical Nativity</i> Painting by Sandro Botticelli

The Mystical Nativity is a painting in oil on canvas executed c. 1500–1501 by the Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli, in the National Gallery in London. It is his only signed work and has an unusual iconography for a painting of the Nativity.

<i>Lamentation over the Dead Christ</i> (Botticelli, Milan) Painting by Sandro Botticelli

The Lamentation over the Dead Christ with Saints is a painting of the Lamentation of Christ by the Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, dated between 1490 and 1495. The painting was originally kept in Santa Maria Maggiore, Florence. It is now in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli of Milan. The painting is one of two versions of The Lamentation by Botticelli. The other, circa 1492, is now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

The decade of the 1490s in art involved some significant events.

The decade of the 1480s in art involved some significant events.

The decade of the 1460s in art involved some significant events.

<i>Madonna of the Magnificat</i> Painting by Sandro Botticelli

The Madonna of the Magnificat, is a painting of circular or tondo form by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. It is also referred to as the Virgin and Child with Five Angels. In the tondo, we see the Virgin Mary writing the Magnificat with her right hand, with a pomegranate in her left, as two angels crown her with the Christ child on her lap. It is now in the galleries of the Uffizi, in Florence.

<i>Adoration of the Magi</i> (Botticelli, 1475) Painting by Sandro Botticelli

The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli. Botticelli painted this piece for the altar in Gaspare di Zanobi del Lama's chapel in Santa Maria Novella around 1475. This painting depicts the Biblical story of the Three Magi following a star to find the newborn Jesus. The image of the altarpiece centers on the Virgin Mary and the newborn Jesus, with Saint Joseph behind them. Before them are the three kings who are described in the New Testament story of the Adoration of the Magi. The three kings worship the Christ Child and present him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In addition, the Holy Family is surrounded by a group of people who came to see the child who was said to be the son of God.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamentation of Christ</span> Subject in Christian art

The Lamentation of Christ is a very common subject in Christian art from the High Middle Ages to the Baroque. 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.

<i>Venus and Mars</i> (Botticelli) Painting by Sandro Botticelli

Venus and Mars is a panel painting of about 1485 by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. It shows the Roman gods Venus, goddess of love, and Mars, god of war, in an allegory of beauty and valour. The youthful and voluptuous couple recline in a forest setting, surrounded by playful baby satyrs.

<i>Primavera</i> (Botticelli) Painting by Sandro Botticelli

Primavera is a large panel painting in tempera paint by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli made in the late 1470s or early 1480s. It has been described as "one of the most written about, and most controversial paintings in the world", and also "one of the most popular paintings in Western art".

<i>Punishment of the Sons of Korah</i> Fresco by Sandro Botticelli

The Punishment of the Sons of Korah or Punishment of the Rebels is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, executed in 1480–1482 in the Sistine Chapel, Rome.

<i>Youth of Moses</i> Fresco by Sandro Botticelli

The Youth of Moses or The Trials of Moses is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli and his workshop, executed in 1481–1482 in the Sistine Chapel, Rome.

<i>Temptations of Christ</i> (Botticelli) Fresco by Sandro Botticelli

The Temptations of Christ is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, executed in 1480–1482 and located in the Sistine Chapel, Rome.

References

  1. Lightbown 1989, pp. 17–26, 58.
  2. Schiller 1972, pp. 164–181.
  3. Yang 2017, pp. 714–736.
  4. "Opera 48". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-06-23.

Bibliography