From the Middle Ages to the 19th century · The body of Christ at the center of mourning

The Lamentation of Christ brings together the body descended from the Cross, the Virgin, Saint John, Madeleine and the disciples in an image where gestures, shroud and objects of the Passion make the pain visible.

The Lamentation of Christ takes place between the Descent from the Cross and the Entombment. Without corresponding to an episode described in isolation by the Gospels, it brings together relatives who have come to mourn the body before its burial. The dead Christ forms the physical and spiritual center of the composition. His body can be placed on the ground, supported by Mary, presented on the knees of the Virgin as in a Pietà or carried towards the sepulcher. Around him, Saint John accompanies the mother of Christ, Madeleine approaches the feet or face, while Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus hold the shroud and prepare the tomb. The empty cross, the ladder, the nails, the crown of thorns and the vase aromatics connect the image to other moments of the Passion. This collection places particular emphasis on the construction of the group and the materiality of the body. Hugo van der Goes tightens the pain in a Nordic Pietà with intensely present faces. Dürer multiplies the reactions and lines that converge towards Christ. Rubens transforms the shroud, arms and drapes into a baroque movement. Delacroix finally makes the color dark and the light a romantic experience of mourning. From one work to another, the same subject finally makes the color dark and the light a romantic experience of mourning. From one work to another, the same subject finally makes the color dark and the draped in baroque movement. Delacroix finally makes the color dark and the light a romantic experience of mourning. From one work to another, the same subject finally makes the color dark and the light a romantic experience of mourning. From one work to another, the same subject finally makes the color dark and the draped into a baroque movement. Delacroix finally makes the color dark and the draped into a baroque movement. Delacroix finally makes the color dark and the light a romantic experience of mourning. From one work to another, the same subject becomes an intimate icon, narrative altarpiece or theater of compassion. Lamentation of Christ - Albrecht Dürer. Its reading favors light.

In the Lamentation of Christ, the silence of the immobile body gives meaning to all movements: hands clasped, arms open, gaze downcast and shroud stretched out.