Christ as the Suffering Redeemer

Christ as the Suffering Redeemer is an original reworking of the theme of the Pietà, painted by Andrea Mantegna in tempera on wood, probably during his stay in Rome, although some historians date it to the 1490s. Christ sits on a finely carved ancient sarcophagus, his open hands displaying all the wounds of the crucifixion. His body, wrapped in a cloth of metallic whiteness, is held up by two kneeling angels, a blue seraph and a red cherub. The attribution rests largely on stylistic links with the Madonna of the Quarry. In the background a distant landscape glows in dawn light, while on the right a quarry where men work stone, and a grotto lit from within, evoke Calvary. On the left, shepherds with their cattle and the walled city of Jerusalem sit at the foot of a rocky spur, and pious women make their way toward the tomb. The painting appears in a Gonzaga inventory of 1627 and later entered the Danish royal collection after passing through Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga.

Painter

Andrea Mantegna

Date

1488

Medium

wood, tempera

Dimensions

136 × 97 cm

Museum

Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen Municipality

Genre

religious art

Depicts

sitting, angel, male toplessness, Jesus Christ, Holy Wounds, tomb, navel, corpse

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