Deposition of the Cross

Jorge Afonso painted this Deposition from the Cross around 1517, depicting the lowering of Christ's body—a subject that allowed for both dramatic composition and tender emotional expression. The Deposition was a key scene in Portuguese Passion cycles, bridging the violence of the Crucifixion with the sorrowful Lamentation and Entombment. 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 composition shows Afonso's careful handling of the complex multi-figure Deposition format, with expressive gesture and the warm tonal contrasts characteristic of his mature Passion paintings.