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The Lamentation

Petrus Christus Netherlandish
ca. 1450
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 605

Intended for private devotion, this painting depicts the lamentation over Christ’s dead body as a model for the viewer’s own contemplation and empathy. The figures lifting Christ’s shroud, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, stand out in their contemporary attire, offering a bridge to the artist’s own time. Mary’s limp pose is meant to suggest her cosuffering with her son and affirms her role as coredeemer. The painting may have been exported to Italy, since it inspired a marble relief in the cathedral of Palermo, Sicily.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Lamentation
  • Artist: Petrus Christus (Netherlandish, Baarle-Hertog (Baerle-Duc), active by 1444–died 1475/76 Bruges)
  • Date: ca. 1450
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: Overall 10 1/8 x 14 in. (25.7 x 35.6 cm); painted surface 10 x 13 3/4 in. (25.4 x 34.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Marquand Collection, Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1890
  • Object Number: 91.26.12
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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The Lamentation, Ambrosius Benson Netherlandish, Oil on canvas, transferred from wood
The Lamentation
Ambrosius Benson
ca. 1520–25
Head of Christ (Ecce Homo), Petrus Christus Netherlandish, Oil on parchment, laid down on wood
Head of Christ (Ecce Homo)
Petrus Christus
ca. 1445
The Annunciation, Petrus Christus Netherlandish, Oil on wood
The Annunciation
Petrus Christus
ca. 1445
Portrait of a Carthusian, Petrus Christus Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Portrait of a Carthusian
Petrus Christus
1446
A Goldsmith in his Shop, Petrus Christus Netherlandish, Oil on oak panel
A Goldsmith in his Shop
Petrus Christus
1449

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