The dead Christ supported by two angels
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| The dead Christ supported by two angels |
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| Giovanni Bellini , 1470-1475 |
| Tempera paint on poplar wood |
| 82.9 x 66.9 cm |
| Collection of the picture gallery of the State Museums in Berlin - Prussian cultural heritage |
The dead Christ supported by two angels is the title of a panel by the Italian painter Giovanni Bellini , which was created between 1470 and 1475, probably in Veneto , Italy. Today it is in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie of the State Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage .
Material, technology, state of preservation
The painting is a primed 82.9 × 66.9 cm panel made of glued poplar wood boards with tempera painting. The paint layer is overall in good condition.
description
The portrait-format painting shows in the center the dead Jesus Christ sitting upright but in a slack position as a three-quarter figure ; his eyes are closed, his features gentle. Behind him, separated by a vermilion shroud, stand two angels who present the dead to the viewer. Christ is naked except for the loincloth that covers his lap; the winged angels wear dark shirts with decorated seams. A piece of blue sky can be seen behind the group.
The left forearm of Jesus lies almost at a right angle on a white loincloth. The right upper arm from the shoulder to the bend of the arm continues the line of the shroud. The arm is held by the angel on the right just in front of the wrist. This type of arm position is a stylistic peculiarity of Venetian painting of the second half of the 15th century and can be traced back to a sketch by Giovanni Bellini's father, Jacopo , especially with the raised forearm .
The composition of the three figures continues to create an open symmetry. Together, apart from the shroud, they largely take up the entire surface of the picture. Only above the heads and wings of the angels is a medium blue strip of sky visible. The depiction of the angels is reminiscent of the appearance of the Venetian noble children of that time. The face of the angel on the left, who appears to be very close to Jesus' ear with his mouth half open, is surrounded by a wreath of brown curls. The angel on the right, with straight, reddish-brown shimmering hair, looks thoughtfully concerned up to the sky on the right.
Jesus' bloody wounds of the Passion on the hands and the cut under the left breast are clearly visible in color and smeared with blood. In general, the painting is highly colorful and clearly shows a contrast between light and dark, starting with the white loincloth on Christ's lap, through the robes of the angels, to the blue of the sky. The anatomical details and plastic modeling in the representation of Christ's torso arise from a fine brushwork and give it the characteristic effect of an ancient sculpture.
iconography
The extraordinary anatomical representation of Christ's naked torso after his death has its origins in Byzantium , the former Eastern Roman Empire, and enjoyed great popularity in Italy and especially in the Veneto region from around the 13th to the middle of the 15th century.
The type of representation was intended to promote meditation and empathy about the deadly suffering of Christ and was sometimes referred to as Imago pietatis , which means something like image of compassion. This form of devotional images is one of the very frequent and successful subjects of this time and is aesthetically popular among private collectors and widely used for private use as cultic or religious objects. Devotional images are preferred by Giovanni Bellini and appear in different iconographic versions. Images of Christ as a Man of Sorrows are particularly common , in which parallels to statements by Bellini's brother-in-law Andrea Mantegna (Man of Sorrows with two angels) can be seen, depictions of the Pietà in which Christ's body is carried or held in mercy by Mary and just as Engelpietà , in which the dead Christ had to be supported by angels.
The subject of Engelpietà in particular, which comes from France in the 14th century and also represented a type of passion icon in the international Gothic, was designed several times by the Florentine sculptor Donatello before Bellini . It is precisely the sculptural effect of the torso of Donatello's version of the bas-reliefs carved in marble for the high altar Basilica del Santo in Padua, near Venice, where Christ is supported in the shroud by two angels and seems to have inspired Bellini later for his works.
Further versions of the motif
Giovanni Bellini had dealt with the depiction of the dead Christ by angels several times during his career . Other well-known versions can be found in the Museo Correr in Venice from around 1460, which, like the panel in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan from around 1457, is one of the oldest panels of this type, in the London National Gallery (1465-70) and as Part of a polyptych created between 1464 and 1470 in SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. Despite their differences, Bellini always emphasized the characteristic sculptural representation of the torso and the realistically depicted wounds. So he varied the backgrounds and the position of the bent arms of Christ, which are always held by two angels and support him to keep him upright. The pose always seems a bit awkward and thus underlines the physicality of the dead Jesus.
Bellini's early depictions of Imago Pietatis showed the body of Christ lean and with very pale skin, such as the depiction in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan from 1457. In contrast, the work from the Gemäldegalerie Berlin and the depiction in the Museo Correr are presented in one unusual colourfulness and dissolved spatial depth, which is particularly illustrated by the clear sky in the background.
literature
- Günter Brucher : History of Venetian Painting. Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Bassano. Volume 2. Boehlau Verlag, 2019, ISBN 978-3-20520029-1 .
- Giorgio Fossaluzza: Giovanni Bellini. Dall'icona alla storia. Allemandi, Venice 2016.
- Markus Rath, Jörg Templer, Iris Wenderholm: The haptic image: physical image experience in modern times. Akademie-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-05-006011-8 .
- Hugo von Tschudi : Journal Article: The Pieta by Giovanni Bellini in the Berlin Museum. Etching by O. Reim. 1891. Vol. 12, H. 4.
Web links
- The Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels National Gallery, London
- The panel painting in the online database of the State Museums
- Bellini, Giovanni, detto Giambellino treccani.it
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erich Schleier : The dead Christ, supported by two angels. In: National Museums in Berlin, Prussian Cultural Heritage. February 10, 2020, accessed June 25, 2020 .
- ↑ Paris Sketchbook, fol. 58
- ^ Günter Brucher: History of the Venetian Painting. Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Bassano . tape 2 . Boehlau Verlag, Vienna 2019, ISBN 3-205-20029-2 , pp. 51, 76 .
- ↑ Cristo morto sorretto da due angeli (Giovanni Bellini Berlino). Retrieved June 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Markus Rath, Jörg Trempler: The haptic image: physical image experience in modern times .
- ^ Günter Brucher: History of the Venetian Painting. Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Bassano. tape 2 . Boehlau Verlag, 2019, ISBN 978-3-205-20029-1 , pp. 29 .
- ^ Günter Brucher: History of Venetian Painting: Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Bassano . tape 2 . Boehlau Verlag, 2019, ISBN 978-3-205-20029-1 , pp. 44 .
- ↑ Terisio Pignatti : BELLINI, Giovanni, detto Giambellino. Retrieved June 22, 2020 (Italian).