Perugino
, Italian, c.1450-1523
Title
The Lamentation over the Dead ChristDatec.1495
MediumTempera and oil on wood panel
Dimensions
169.5 x 171.5 cm
Signedcentre left: Petrus Perusinus/ Pinxit
Credit LinePurchased, 1931 (Lane Fund)
Object numberNGI.942
DescriptionThe Virgin is seated at the centre of the picture, holding Christ’s dead body in her arms, while his head rests on the shoulder of St John the Evangelist. A visibly moved St Mary Magdalene is on the opposite side. The two remaining followers of Christ are Nicodemus (left) and Joseph of Arimathea (right). In the distant background are tiny figures leaving the scene of the Crucifixion on Golgotha. This is a scene of great piety, intended to induce deep reflection in the mind of the religious spectator. Between the arches of a three-arched loggia are traces of the arms of Charles Gouffier, a leading courtier of François I and the first known owner of the painting. It was later in the great private Orleans collection. During a period of iconoclasm the head of the Virgin was savagely attacked. A major conservation programme in 2014–15 brought back the colours and definition of the features that had been hidden by later repainting. Perugino painted two versions of this Lamentation, probably within a short space of time. The panel in the Uffizi, which lacks the sun-filled Tuscan landscape that enhances the picture here, is considered to be the earlier. The artist trained in Perugia and in 1481, along with other important Florentine painters, was invited to the Vatican to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel. Thereafter he was mainly active in Florence and in Perugia, creating his own world of saintly figures, with gentle, sincere emotion.
ProvenanceCollection of Philippe Duc D'Orleans, Regent of France; after the execution of the Regents' great-grandson, Phillippe Egalité, brought to England; Sale in The Lyceum in the Strand, 1789; Sir Christopher Sykes; purchased, Christie's, London, 1931 Exhibition HistoryBurlington House, 1883
Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October - December 1964
Label TextItalian painter Perugino was at the height of his career when he painted this quiet picture of the aftermath of Christ’s crucifixion and descent from the cross. The Virgin cradles Christ’s dead body, while his head rests on Saint John the Evangelist’s shoulder, and Mary Magdalene supports his legs. The two standing figures are Christ’s followers who assisted with his burial: Nicodemus (left) and Joseph of Arimathea (right). Traces of the coat of arms of French nobleman Claude Gouffier (1501-1570) are visible between the arches of the loggia. These were added by the Gouffier family at a later date.