Italian school; XVI century.

Italian school; XVI century.
"Christ".
Carved and polychrome wood.
It presents faults in the carving and polychrome.
Measurements: 85 x 58 x 14 cm.
The crucifixion of Christ is the central theme of the Christian iconography and especially of the catholic one. Christ was inflicted the suffering that corresponded to the fugitive slaves or in rebellion, an essentially Roman condemnation but of Persian origin. This episode of the life of Christ is the most strictly proven as historical fact and is also the main argument of the redemption of the Christian doctrine: the blood of God incarnated as man is shed for the redemption of all sins. The representation of the crucifixion has undergone an evolution parallel to the liturgical and theological variations of the Catholic doctrine in which we want to point out three milestones: at the beginning the paleochristian art omitted the representation of the human figure of Christ and the crucifixion was represented by means of the "Agnus Dei", the mystical lamb carrying the cross of martyrdom. Until the eleventh century Christ is represented crucified but alive and triumphant, with his eyes open, according to the Byzantine rite that does not consider the possibility of the existence of the corpse of Christ. Later, under the theological consideration that the death of the Savior is not due to an organic process but to an act of divine will, Christ is represented, as in our work, already dead with his eyes closed and his head fallen on the right shoulder, showing the sufferings of the passion, provoking commiseration, as referred to in Psalm 22 when he says: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (...) a mob of the wicked is near me: they have pierced my hands and my feet (...) they have divided my garments and cast lots for my tunic".

COMMENTS

It presents faults in the carving and polychromy.