Sandro Botticelli
Lamentation of Christ

Date:

1495/96

107 X 71 cm

Milan, Museo Paldi Pezzoli

Lamentation of Christ

By the late 1490’s Botticelli’s style continued to undergo changes. His paintings seemed to contain less dimension and close-up views of the subjects. He also made the figures in his paintings longer with greater emotion than ever before.

Both of Botticelli’s Lamentation of Christ paintings show this outpouring of emotion. The Lamentation of Christ with the Saints, now in Munich, shows the emotional fervor by the arched body of Christ and Mary Magdalene on her knees holding Jesus’ feet. The Lamentation painting that is now in Milan, holds great emotional tension the way Botticelli portrays Mary in deep mourning or the female who is literally covering her face with her clothing. Jesus’ head is in an unrealistic position and Johns’ head seems attached to Mary’s body. They are all dressed in solid clothes which leads the viewer to look more directly at the mourners face.