Why it matters
Mantegna shows the dead Christ lying on a marble slab, seen from his feet in a radically foreshortened view, while mourners weep at his side. The perspective stresses every anatomical detail and wound, giving the scene a shocking realism one historian called 'almost spooky'.
Did you know?
- It is also known as The Foreshortened Christ.
- It was probably painted in the early 1480s.
- The nail wounds in the hands and feet are clearly visible.
Based on the Wikipedia article Lamentation of Christ (Mantegna) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
