In the Vatican Museums, more specifically in the Vatican Pinacoteca, there is a single large painting by Caravaggio: the Deposition of Christ, also called the Entombment of Christ, made between 1603 and 1604.
A work that crossed centuries and countries
The painting was created for the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella in Rome, known as Chiesa Nuova, where a copy remains today. The original was taken to Paris in 1797, during the Napoleonic campaigns, to the Napoleon Museum, and returned to Rome, being installed in the Vatican Pinacoteca in 1816.
An unusual moment in the theme
Caravaggio does not portray the traditional moment in which Christ is placed in the tomb, but the previous moment, in which Nicodemus and John place him on the anointing stone, the stone with which the tomb would be closed. Surrounding the body are the Virgin, Mary Magdalene, John and Mary of Cleophas, who raises her arms and eyes to the sky in a gesture of intense pain, one of the moments of greatest dramatic tension in the painter's entire work.
A chiaroscuro that changed European painting
The contrast between light and shadow in this painting, and the physical immediacy of bodies, helped shape Baroque painting throughout Europe, proving that faith could be shown with sweat, shadow, and direct contact, not just idealized serenity.
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Which work by Caravaggio is in the Vatican Museums?
The Deposition of Christ (also called Entombment of Christ), painted between 1603 and 1604, displayed in the Vatican Pinacoteca.
Where was the Deposition of Christ originally done?
To the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella in Rome, known as Chiesa Nuova. A copy remains in the original chapel, and the authentic painting has been in the Vatican Pinacoteca since 1816, after being taken to Paris in 1797 by Napoleonic troops.
What makes the Deposition of Christ different from traditional versions of the theme?
Caravaggio does not show Christ being placed in the tomb, but the moment in which Nicodemus and John place him on the anointing stone, surrounded by the Virgin, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Cleophas, the latter with her arms raised to heaven in a gesture of intense pain.
Continue to the Caravaggio cluster: Who was Caravaggio? · Caravaggio and the Bible · What is chiaroscuro?
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