Deposition of Christ

This Deposition of Christ was painted in 1523 for the Certosa del Galluzzo, the Carthusian monastery where Pontormo took refuge during the plague. Part of the artist's Passion cycle, it reveals the deep influence of Dürer's prints on Pontormo's work during this period. The emotional extremity of the subject—Christ lowered from the cross—drew out the artist's gift for expressing intense psychological states. trained by Leonardo and Andrea del Sarto, developed radically original Mannerist idiom in Florence.

The angular, compressed composition draws heavily on Northern graphic sources, with figures arranged in tight, interlocking groups. Pontormo's distinctive palette transforms Dürer's monochrome woodcut vocabulary into vivid color, maintaining the emotional intensity while adding Florentine luminosity.