The Lamentation of Christ

Hans Baldung Grien painted this Lamentation of Christ around 1516 for the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Baldung was Dürer's most gifted pupil, but his art developed in a far more psychologically disturbing direction, bringing an intensity of emotion and symbolism to religious subjects that transcends conventional devotional painting. The tempera medium required careful preparation on a gessoed panel and a disciplined layering technique that produced precise, durable surfaces suited to the intricate detail expected of devotional painting.

The Lamentation demonstrates Baldung's characteristic combination of vivid color with emotionally charged figure types, creating a Passion image of unusual psychological intensity through the bold gestures and expressions of the mourning figures.