Compianto sul Cristo morto (c.1490-1495)

Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)

Compianto sul Cristo morto (Lamentation over the Dead Christ)
c.14901495
Tempera on poplar panel, 140 x 209.2 cm
Alte PinakothekMunich

Botticelli created this depiction of a Pieta for meditation on the Passion, surrounded by female mourners and saints and set against the dark burial cave, for the high altar of the San Paolino Collegiate Church of the Canons Regular. The iconically staged scene simultaneously depicts a dramatic moment when the Virgin Mary is overcome by grief and falls, sideways, into unconsciousness. St John supports her and prevents the luminously shining body of Christ from sliding off her lap. The powerful colouration and expressive composition is exemplary of works from Botticelli‘s later period. (APM)

Compare:

Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Compianto sul Cristo morto
c.14951500
Museo Poldi PezzoliMilano