Detail of The Lamentation by Lucas Cranach in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, June 2010

The Lamentation
1538
Lucas Cranach, the Elder, German, 1472–1553

Dimensions: 60.3 x 40.0 cm (23 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.)

Medium or Technique: Oil on panel

Classification: Paintings
Type: Religious - New Testament

Accession Number: 74.28

A traditionally Catholic subject, the lamentation over the dead Christ is described in the apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus, not in the canonical Bible. Here, Nicodemus holds Mary Magdalene's ointment jar, and Joseph of Arimathea, with the crown of thorns, comforts the mourning Virgin. Saint John supports the dead Christ while Mary Magdalene kneels to kiss the wound on Christ's hand. Despite the religious upheaval in northern Europe, Cranach's Protestantism did not prevent him from accepting commissions for Catholic patrons.

Text from: www.mfa.org/collections/object/the-lamentation-30873