Dead Christ supported by Angels thumbnail 1
Dead Christ supported by Angels thumbnail 2
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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Dead Christ supported by Angels

Relief
ca. 1530 - 1540 (carved)
Artist/Maker
Florentine (sculptor)
Donatello (style of)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

Believed by many to be the work of Donatello and his one-time partner Michelozzo, this languid Christ relates more closely to later works and perhaps deliberately recalls Donatello’s style. The wounds of the Passion in Christ’s hands, feet and side were a focus for meditation on his suffering. Unusually, the side wound is missing here, although the wounds from the nails in Christ's hands are distinctively carved.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Religion
Christianity
Death
Object type
Relief
TitleDead Christ supported by Angels (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved marble in low relief
Marble
Carving
Low Relief
Brief description
Panel relief, 'Dead Christ supported by Angels', marble, carved, Florentine, style of Donatello, Florence, ca. 1530-1540 (?)
Physical description
In the centre is the body of Christ supported by two angels. His head is inclined on his right shoulder and his left arm is raised on the shoulder of the angel beside him. The figure is cut off at the thighs by the integrally-carved frame, and also at the proper right hand which rests on the left thigh. Christ's hands bear the distintive marks of the nails used to support his body on the cross. He has a cruciform halo, and wears a plaited crown of thorns. The angel on the right is shown in profile and moving forwards, his right hand on Christ's shoulder, his left on Christ's chest. The angel on the left supports Christ's head with his right hand, and presses his left hand in a gesture of grief against his face. Both wear loosely flowing robes. In very low relief in the background are three lamenting angels. The scene is recessed into an integrally-carved foliated border.
Dimensions
  • Height: 80.5cm
  • Width: 114.3cm
  • Depth: 6cm
  • Approximately weight: 100kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Gallery label
(2020)
THE DEAD CHRIST SUPPORTED BY ANGELS
About 1520–40
Style of Donatello (about 1386–1466)

Believed by many to be the work of Donatello and Michelozzo,
this languid Christ relates more closely
to later works and perhaps deliberately recalls Donatello’s style. The wounds
of the Passion in Christ’s hands, feet
and side were a focus for meditation on his suffering.
The side wound is unusually missing.

Italy, Florence
Marble

Museum no. 7577-1861
(March 1992)
Probably made for the front of an altar, the relief was designed by Donatello and executed in his workshop. The head and left side of Christ appear to have been worked up by Donatello, with a studio assistant responsible for the lateral and background figures. The relief relates stylistically to the external pulpit of Prato Cathedral (completed 1438). The composition appears to have been known by Giovanni Bellini, who uses a similar arrangement of figures in his Pieta of 1474 in the Pinacoteca Comunale, Rimini.
Object history
The relief is closely related in style to the work of Donatello, and is believed by some scholars, to be by the master's hand, together with a workshop assistant, possibly Michelozzo with whom Donatello was in partnership for several years. However, the absence of the side wound, made all the more telling by the distinctive wounds in the hands that refer to Christ being nailed to the cross, and the languid treatment of the torso suggest that the relief dates to a later period. There was a particular interest in the sculpture of the quattrocento around the 1530s and the relief was possibly created as an homage to the great master in around 1520-50.
Subjects depicted
Angels
Halo
Wings
Jesus Christ
Summary
Believed by many to be the work of Donatello and his one-time partner Michelozzo, this languid Christ relates more closely to later works and perhaps deliberately recalls Donatello’s style. The wounds of the Passion in Christ’s hands, feet and side were a focus for meditation on his suffering. Unusually, the side wound is missing here, although the wounds from the nails in Christ's hands are distinctively carved.
Bibliographic references
  • Motture, Peta, ed., Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance, London: V&A Publishing, 2023. p. 244, cat. 6.13, entry by Peta Motture, Attribution: Florentine
  • Rowley, Neville, ed., Donatello: Inventor of the Renaissance, Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2022. pp. 284-285, cat. 72, entry by Aldo Galli, Attribution: Donatello
  • Caglioti, Francesco, ed., with Laura Cavazzini, Aldo Galli, and Neville Rowley. Donatello: il Rinascimento, Venice: Marsilio, 2022. pp. 282-283, cat. 9.1, entry by Aldo Galli, Attribution: Donatello
  • Motture, P., Jones, E. and Zikos, D., ed. by, Carvings, Casts and Collectors: The Art of Renaissance Sculpture, London, 2013 Peta Motture 'Looking afresh: reviewing Italian Renaissance sculpture for the V&A's Medieval & Renaissance Galleries', plate 5, pp. 21-23 and 27
  • Pope-Hennessy, John Donatallo: Sculptor New York, 1993, pp. 140-2
  • Rosenauer, Artur Donatello Milan, 1993. p. 146
  • Pianazza, Murielle 'Giovan Pietro Campana Collezionista, Archeologo, Banchiere e il suo legame con Firenze' in Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz XXXVII, 1993, 2/3. p452
  • Avery, Charles Donatello Exhibition Catalogue, Firenze, 1991. p95, cat no 58
  • Dunkleman, Martha Levine, 'A New Look at Donatello's St. Peter's Tabernacle' in Gazette des Beaux Arts, CVXII, 1991, pp. 1-16
  • Pope-Hennessy, John Donatello Berlin, 1986. pp. 144-7
  • Caplow, Harriet Michelozzo 1977, p. p378-85
  • Timofiewitsch, Wladimir, Giralamo Campagna-Studien zur venezianischen Plastik um das Jahr 1600, Munich, 1972, pp. 39, 40, 44
  • del Bravo, Carlo Scultura senese del Quattrocento Florence, 1970, p. 85
  • Raggio, Olga. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Art Bulletin. Vol. L, 1968, p. 100
  • Seymour Jr., Charles Sculpture in Italy 1400-1500 Pelican History of Art, Harmondsworth, 1966. pp234
  • Pope-Hennessy, John, assisted by Lightbown, Ronald, Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, vol. I, pp. 73-75
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 20
  • Brown, F.P. London Sculpture English Art Series, Volume III, p.16
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1861 In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 28
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
7577-1861

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O14765/dead-christ-supported-by-angels-relief-florentine/
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