Pieta with Saints Benedict, Francis, John and Mary Magdalene
Historical Context
Raffaellino del Garbo depicted this scene of mourning over the dead Christ around 1525, one of the most emotionally powerful subjects in Christian art that invited the viewer to share in the grief of Christ's followers. The painting is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. The tempera-on-panel medium required a carefully gessoed surface and was painted in fine, precise layers, yielding a luminous, jewel-like surface of great durability.
Technical Analysis
The devotional composition is rendered with attention to the expressive and contemplative qualities that served the painting's function as an aid to prayer and meditation.
