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Notes
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The Virgin, face partly obscured by her vast blue cloak, places a hand on her son’s bloody wound. He is shown upright, after his crucifixion. The image of Christ displaying his wounds after death was popular in the late Middle Ages as a focus for meditation upon his suffering. The spear used to pierce his side is painted on the back of the panel, along with other tools of the Crucifixion, including a hammer and nails. The panel was originally the left half of a pair of images hinged together, or possibly part of a triptych (an object made up of three panels). The other part shows Saint John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene looking towards Christ in grief (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). The artist probably belonged to one of the Florentine painter Giotto’s workshops in Naples.
Title
The Dead Christ and the Virgin
Date
1330s-40s
Medium
Egg tempera on wood
Measurements
H 60 x W 42.3 cm
Accession number
NG3895
Acquisition method
Presented by Henry Wagner, 1924
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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