The Virgin Mary Swooning over the Dead Body of Christ at the Foot of the Cross

1710

Pierre-Etienne Monnot

Associated Names
Pierre-Etienne Monnot

Sculptor, French, 1657 - 1733

In the bottom left corner of this rectangular relief sculpture, a bearded, bare-chested, muscular man with wavy hair lies lifeless, supported by a person with shoulder-length hair who is dressed in flowing garments. That person looks up over their shoulder at a man behind them, who has a long beard and appears to hold a pair of pliers. His brows are furrowed. On the right, a seated woman's head falls back, cradled by another woman with braided hair who stands behind her. The seated woman is dressed in flowing, draped cloth that also covers her head, and her right hand reaches out to grab the wrist of the limp man. Other people in the background engage in a variety of tasks, carrying ladders, hanging cloth, or holding a large urn. The entire sculpture is crafted from a smooth white material.

Media Options

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Pity for the suffering and death of Christ is a fundamental theme in Christian art. At the center of Monnot's relief, the hands of Mary and Jessusinius fall limp, hers in a swoon as he slips from her last caress. Deeply undercut, the limbs and hair of foreground figures emerge into the viewer's space, while low-relief background figures seem to fade into the distance. Few such baroque marble high reliefs survive outside the churches for which they were made. This one, signed and dated, must have belonged to a patron important enough to compete with popes for the services of the French-born sculptor Monnot, a leading artist in Rome after Bernini's death.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    marble

  • Credit Line

    Patrons' Permanent Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 72 x 58 x 7.5 cm (28 3/8 x 22 13/16 x 2 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2004.18.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Private collection, South America, from the early 20th century;[1] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 11 December 2003, no. 76, as A Carved Marble Rectangular Relief Depicting the Deposition); (Daniel Katz Ltd., London); purchased 26 February 2004 by NGA.
[1] This information was provided by Christie's at the time of NGA's purchase.

Associated Names

Bibliography

2004

  • Penny, Nicholas. "Pierre-Etienne Monnot, The Virgin Mary Swooning over the Dead Body of Christ at the Foot of the Cross." National Gallery of Art Bulletin, no. 32 (Fall 2004): 21-22, repro.

2013

  • Katz, Daniel, and Nicholas Penny. Daniel Katz: 45 Years of European Sculpture. London, 2013: 90, no. 29, 91 repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: P.S.MONNOT [P.S. for Pietro Stefano, the Italian version of the artist's given names] / FECIT ROM.1710

Wikidata ID

Q63862022

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