Painting Detail
LamentationArtist: Luca Giordano
Medium: Painting, Oil on canvas, 155x182 cm
Date: c. 1670/1675
Genre: Christianity, Religious
Source: Acquired in Paris with the assistance of Baron Dominique Vivant Denon, 1810
The Neapolitan painter Luca Giordano studied under Jusepe de Ribera, one of the leading masters of the Golden Age of Spanish painting. Ribera's influence can be felt in the dark colouring of the Hermitage painting, the rich light and shade and the nature of the faces. The Lamentation is typical of compositions of this type. The large figures fill the surface of the canvas: Maria looks sorrowfully at her son, unable to tear her gaze away from his face; the Magdalene has fallen at his wounded feet; Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea support his shoulders tenderly. The master skilfully conveys the texture of the fabrics, the silky softness of the falling, golden shower of the Magdalene's hair. The rough, sunburned faces of Joseph and Nicodemus are in sharp contrast with the pale face of Christ. To the right in the foreground are the three nails with which Jesus was nailed to the Cross, possibly included at the request of the client, who may have been a member of the Jesuit Order, the emblems of which include three nails.