Artwork Page for Christ with Joseph of Arimathea

Details / Information for Christ with Joseph of Arimathea

Christ with Joseph of Arimathea

c. 1525
(Italian, c. 1480–after 1548)
Measurements
Framed: 134.6 x 221 x 12.7 cm (53 x 87 x 5 in.); Unframed: 105 x 191.8 cm (41 5/16 x 75 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

This panel originally crowned the largest painting Savoldo ever made for a public setting.

Description

After the Crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea obtained permission to bury Christ’s body in Joseph’s own tomb. Aside from an amorphous, cloudy sky, Savoldo eliminated the background entirely and reduced the narrative to two monumental figures, brought to the front of the picture plane. These qualities surely had a great impact on Caravaggio, who initially trained in Northern Italy, where Savoldo spent his career. This work originally hung over a large altarpiece, which explains the unusual perspective, the panel’s horizontal shape, and the figures’ position above the viewer.
A horizontally oriented oil painting depicts Joseph of Arimathea, a man with light skin tone and short beard, supporting the body of Christ. Joseph wears a fur-lined brown garment and red cloak. Christ's pale, nude body reclines on a stone ledge, showing wounds on his side, hand, and feet. Behind the figures, large white clouds fill a bright blue sky. Christ's head tilts left with eyes closed and mouth slightly open.

Christ with Joseph of Arimathea

c. 1525

Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo

(Italian, c. 1480–after 1548)
Italy, 16th century

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