Geertgen tot Sint Jans ca. 1460/65 – ca. 1488/93

The Lamentation of Christ

oil on panel (172 × 139 cm) — after 1484 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Geertgen tot Sint Jans biography

The dead Christ is lamented by his mother Mary and two other women. Among the bystanders probably Nicodemus, the man who got permission to take the body down from the cross. The man in the red robe could be John the Evangelist. Lying next to the body are the crown of thorns and the iron nails.

In the background the two criminals are taken from their crosses. They were crucified together with Jesus.

Neither the lamentation nor the deposition of the criminals are recorded in the Bible.

This large panel is one of two works that with certainty were made by Geertgen.

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