Lamentation

Artist: Scipione Pulzone – c. 1593

This altarpiece was painted for the chapel of the Passion of Christ in the church of the Gesù, in Rome, the headquarters of the Jesuit order. Its style was intended to complement the austere interior space of the church. Pulzone’s canvas is conceived not as a narrative but as a meditation on the Entombment of Christ, in line with Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. Details such as the tears of the Virgin, the crown of thorns held by Saint John, and the pallor of Christ’s body are presented to the viewer for contemplation. Pulzone’s brand of realism made him an important exponent of Counter Reformation art.