Italian school; 17th century.

Italian school; XVII century.
"Dead Christ".
Oil on copper.
It has a period frame.
Measurements: 16 x 22 cm; 21 x 27 cm (frame).
The pearly skin of a recumbent Christ brings a theatrical and morbid light to this devotional scene. The subject matter, tonality and composition form an image that awakens the passion of the faithful, inviting them to reflect on Christ's last moments. In a landscape format, several figures fall on the body of Jesus, the protagonist of the scene. The figures stand out for their monumentality and volumetry, covering the entire surface that is veiled to the viewer even in the case of the character represented in the background, which goes almost unnoticed.
Iconographically it is a very emotional theme, the fruit of popular piety, which concentrates attention on the drama of the Passion and the loving and sorrowful contemplation, with a realistic and moving sense. In Byzantium, and in the representations of Byzantine influence, the figure of Christ rests on the slab of anointing, where his corpse was perfumed and prepared to receive burial, which later in Italian art will become a sepulcher. This scene does not appear in the Gospels, but finds its origin in mystical literature and in religious texts of piety, as well as in those of the confraternities of flagellants. In the canonical Gospels and in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus it is narrated how Joseph of Arimathea buried the body of Jesus.