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The Meditation on the Passion

ca. 1490
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Meditation on the Passion
  • Artist: Vittore Carpaccio (Italian, Venice 1460/66?–1525/26 Venice)
  • Date: ca. 1490
  • Medium: Oil and tempera on wood
  • Dimensions: Overall 27 3/4 x 34 1/8in. (70.5 x 86.7cm); painted surface 26 3/16 × 33 1/4 in. (66.5 × 84.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1911
  • Object Number: 11.118
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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5067. The Meditation on the Passion

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More Artwork

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Saint Jerome (recto); Soldier with a Spear (verso), Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Brush with black ink and gray wash, over traces of black chalk or charcoal, highlighted with white gouache on blue paper (recto); black chalk, highlighted with white gouache, with some brush and gray wash (verso)
Saint Jerome (recto); Soldier with a Spear (verso)
Vittore Carpaccio
1460–1525
Studies of a Seated Youth in Armor, Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Black chalk, point of brush and gray wash, highlighted with white gouache, on blue paper
Studies of a Seated Youth in Armor
Vittore Carpaccio
ca. 1505
Saint Martin and the Beggar, Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash, over faint traces of black chalk
Saint Martin and the Beggar
Vittore Carpaccio
1493–1500
Standing Female Figure (St. Anne; Cartoon for a Painting), Vittore Carpaccio Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray-brown wash, over charcoal underdrawing; outlines pricked for transfer, on two glued sheets of paper with overlapping joins
Standing Female Figure (St. Anne; Cartoon for a Painting)
Vittore Carpaccio
ca. 1502–4
The Birth of the Virgin, Fra Carnevale (Bartolomeo di Giovanni Corradini) Italian, Tempera and oil on wood
The Birth of the Virgin
Fra Carnevale (Bartolomeo di Giovanni Corradini)
1467

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