Lamentation over the dead Christ

Pietro Vannucci, known as il Perugino
tempera on wood panel
1502-1523

This painting, which depicts the dead Christ held by Mary Magdalene, St. John and Joseph of Arimathea, was originally part of the extraordinary polyptych in the Church of Sant’Agostino in Perugia. Pietro Vannucci was commissioned to do the work in 1502. It remained unfinished at the time of his death in 1523. The Pietà originally occupied the rear side of the cymatium, facing the choir. The structure stood on the main altar until the mid-16th century when the wooden structure was dismantled and the painted panels were moved to adorn the sides of the choir.

Several pieces of the polyptych were confiscated by Jacques-Pierre Tinet during the Napoleonic requisitions of 1797. Fortunately, the Pietà which had ended up in France with the rest of the booty, was recovered by Antonio Canova in 1815.  On it’s return to Perugia it was acquired by the San Pietro monks. This work is from the artist’s mature years and features a more rapid technical execution where the colours were applied in countless hatch-like strokes giving the painting’s surface a particular vibrancy.