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The Deposition from the Cross (Pontormo)
Encyclopedia
The Deposition from the Cross is an altarpiece
by the Italian Renaissance painter Jacopo Pontormo, completed in 1528. It is broadly considered to be the artist's surviving masterpiece. Painted in oil on wood, The Deposition is located above the altar
of the Capponi Chapel at the church of Santa Felicita
, in Florence
.
Pontormo's undulating mannerist
contortions have been interpreted as intending to express apoplectic and uncontrolled spasms of melancholy. The Virgin, larger than her counterparts, swoons sideways inviting the support of those behind her. The assembly looks completely interlocked, as if architecturally integrated. Legend has it that Pontormo set himself in self-portrait at the extreme right of the canvas; but ultimately, the most compelling and empathic figure is the crouching man in the foreground, whose expression mixes the weight of the cadaver and the weight of melancholy.
had painted a more phantasmagorical and gymnastically challenged array in his crowded version of the descent from the cross, the Deposition of 1521.
Pontormo's grieving crowds and brightness of color also provide a stark contrast to Caravaggio
's somber Deposition from the Cross or Entombment in the Vatican
Pinacoteca. The Deposition
by Raphael
in the Galleria Borghese
shows a later, though related scene: the Entombment of Christ.
In addition to works of the same subject by other artists, Pontormo's own work from the time provides a useful comparison. The decoration in the dome of the Capponi chapel is now lost, but four roundel
s with the Evangelist
s still adorn the pendentives, which were painted by both Pontormo and his apprentice Bronzino. The swathed drapery inThe Visitationhttp://renaissance.mrugala.net/Pontormo%20(par%20Fontaine%20S.)/Pontormo%20-%20La%20Visitation.jpg (1529) in the church of San Michele e Francesco at Carmignano
bears a striking resemblance to that in the Deposition. The contrapposto
of the figures can be compared to Pontormo's Annunciation
(1520s) frescoed on the adjacent wall.
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
by the Italian Renaissance painter Jacopo Pontormo, completed in 1528. It is broadly considered to be the artist's surviving masterpiece. Painted in oil on wood, The Deposition is located above the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
of the Capponi Chapel at the church of Santa Felicita
Santa Felicita di Firenze
Santa Felicita is a church in Florence, Italy, probably the oldest in the city after San Lorenzo. In the 2nd century, Syrian Greek merchants settled in the area south of the Arno and are thought to have brought Christianity to the region...
, in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
.
Interpretation
This painting suggests a whorling dance of the grief-stricken. They inhabit a flattened space, comprising a sculptural congregation of brightly demarcated colors. The vortex of the composition droops down towards the limp body of Jesus off center in the left. Those lowering Christ appear to demand our help in sustaining both the weight of his body (and the burden of sin Christ took on) and their grief. No Cross is visible; the natural world itself also appears to have nearly vanished: a lonely cloud and a shadowed patch of ground with a crumpled sheet provide sky and stratum for the mourners. If the sky and earth have lost color, the mourners have not; bright swathes of pink and blue envelop the pallid, limp Christ.Pontormo's undulating mannerist
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
contortions have been interpreted as intending to express apoplectic and uncontrolled spasms of melancholy. The Virgin, larger than her counterparts, swoons sideways inviting the support of those behind her. The assembly looks completely interlocked, as if architecturally integrated. Legend has it that Pontormo set himself in self-portrait at the extreme right of the canvas; but ultimately, the most compelling and empathic figure is the crouching man in the foreground, whose expression mixes the weight of the cadaver and the weight of melancholy.
Other works
The Deposition from the Cross is one of the standard scenes from the life of Jesus in medieval art, and because of the complexities of the composition, it is one in which Renaissance artists continued to take a great interest. Several years prior to Pontormo's masterpiece, the Florentine painter Rosso FiorentinoRosso Fiorentino
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo , known as Rosso Fiorentino , or Il Rosso, was an Italian Mannerist painter, in oil and fresco, belonging to the Florentine school.-Biography:...
had painted a more phantasmagorical and gymnastically challenged array in his crowded version of the descent from the cross, the Deposition of 1521.
Pontormo's grieving crowds and brightness of color also provide a stark contrast to Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
's somber Deposition from the Cross or Entombment in the Vatican
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican...
Pinacoteca. The Deposition
Deposition (Raphael)
The Deposition, also known as the , Borghese Deposition or The Entombment, is an oil painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. Signed and dated "Raphael Urbinas MDVII ", the painting is in the Galleria Borghese in Rome...
by Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
in the Galleria Borghese
Galleria Borghese
The Borghese Gallery is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. It is a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens...
shows a later, though related scene: the Entombment of Christ.
In addition to works of the same subject by other artists, Pontormo's own work from the time provides a useful comparison. The decoration in the dome of the Capponi chapel is now lost, but four roundel
Roundel
A roundel in heraldry is a disc; the term is also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of different colours.-Heraldry:...
s with the Evangelist
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
s still adorn the pendentives, which were painted by both Pontormo and his apprentice Bronzino. The swathed drapery inThe Visitationhttp://renaissance.mrugala.net/Pontormo%20(par%20Fontaine%20S.)/Pontormo%20-%20La%20Visitation.jpg (1529) in the church of San Michele e Francesco at Carmignano
/Pontormo%20-%20La%20Visitation.jpg){kind=link}
Carmignano
Carmignano is a comune of c. 12,000 inhabitants in the province of Prato, part of the Italian region Tuscany. It is located about 20 km west of Florence and about 10 km southwest of Prato....
bears a striking resemblance to that in the Deposition. The contrapposto
Contrapposto
Contrapposto is an Italian term that means counterpose. It is used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This gives the figure a more dynamic, or alternatively relaxed...
of the figures can be compared to Pontormo's Annunciation
Annunciation (Pontormo)
The Annunciation is a wall painting by the Italian mannerist artist Jacopo Pontormo, executed in 1527-1528 as part of his commission to decorate the Capponi Chapel in the church of Santa Felicita, Florence....
(1520s) frescoed on the adjacent wall.