The Meditation on the Passion

Vittore Carpaccio Italian

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 606

This remarkable picture is a meditation on death and resurrection. Christ’s dead body is displayed on a broken throne inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew. A bird, a symbol of the soul, flies upward. The landscape—contrastingly barren and lush—alludes to the themes of death and life, as do the animals. The Old Testament prophet Job sits on a block inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew while opposite is Saint Jerome (ca. 347–420), who wrote a commentary on the book of Job. The turbaned figures in the background would have been familiar to Venetians through their trade with the Middle East and Egypt.

#5067. The Meditation on the Passion

0:00
0:00
The Meditation on the Passion, Vittore Carpaccio (Italian, Venice 1460/66?–1525/26 Venice), Oil and tempera on wood

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.