Giovanni Bellini
Lamentation of Christ

The scene is painted with a thin brush in tempera on wood and almost looks like a drawing. The horizontal panel measures 74 centimetres in height and is almost 1.20 metres wide. It comes from the Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence. 

The depiction in shades of grey shows Mary, the dead Jesus and John, surrounded by five other people against a neutral, yellow-brown background. The figures are very vivid and lively thanks to fine hatching and stippling. 

The dead Jesus is leaning with his back against his mother, who is sitting diagonally behind him on the left. Her left hand grasps his shoulder, her right hand rests on the ground. Cloths are wrapped around Mary's head, forehead and neck. A wide veil lies over them. Mary looks at her son with half-closed eyes. 

John sits to the right of the dead man with his knees bent. With his right hand he supports Jesus' back, with his left he holds the crucified man's forearm. A stigmata can be seen on the back of Jesus' limply hanging hand. John's gaze is fixed on it. John has long curly hair, which the artist has worked out in great detail, and a beard. He is wearing a loose robe with a belt. 

Jesus, between Mary and John, has shoulder-length wavy hair and a short full beard. His eyes are closed, his facial features relaxed. His head is tilted back slightly. A light-coloured cloth is wrapped around his loins. 

Two women and three men have gathered around Mary, Jesus and John in the centre. Mary Magdalene stands in the foreground on the left. Her long hair falls over her chest. She is wearing a hairband around her head and a wrinkled robe. She looks in front of her, stunned, her mouth slightly open. Behind her, between her and Mary, kneels a man with a turban and a full beard. It is Nicodemus. He looks at Mary Magdalene with a worried expression and a furrowed brow. 

The woman to the right of Nicodemus, Mary Cleophae, is wearing a headscarf. She is gazing into the distance beyond the events in front of her. Her head is drawn with pale strokes and only partially coloured. To her right is another man: Joseph of Arimathea. He has light hair and a thick beard. His brows are drawn together as he follows Mary Cleophae's gaze. His head is also not worked out in as much detail as the figures in the central group. 

Finally, an older man with a long white beard in a monk's habit is depicted on the right-hand edge of the picture, who cannot be identified by researchers. He sits behind John and looks grimly at the dead Jesus from under bushy eyebrows.

Is it a preliminary drawing? A template for workshop assistants? A finished work?

For a long time, researchers couldn't agree on the exact nature of this panel. It appears to be the work of Giovanni Bellini himself. The delicate hatching and stippling, which lend the figures and their garments remarkable plasticity, demonstrate the precision of a master.

Whether the panel was a work of art in itself, an underdrawing or a collection of ideas – the same structure is also present in several other Lamentation scenes from Bellini's workshop. If you turn around to face the opposite wall, you'll see a Lamentation that is also by Bellini and his collaborators and has a very similar composition – albeit in colour.

Christ, who has been taken down from the cross, is being supported by Mary, John and other faithful followers. John, the favourite disciple, shows us Jesus's pierced hand, and his look seems to be appealing to us personally. The other figures are gripped by wordless grief.

The painting arrived at the Württemberg court in 1852 along with many other masterpieces. It was one of 250 paintings in the Barbini-Breganze collection acquired in Venice by Wilhelm the First.

Those masterpieces still form a major part of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart's collection even now. And the research and restoration of some of the works gave rise to this exhibition.

We hope you've enjoyed your encounter with Venetian early Renaissance painting, and your exploration of the worlds of Vittore Carpaccio with their blend of the realistic and the imaginary. We look forward to welcoming you again soon. But for now, we'll just say "thank you" … and goodbye.

You've been listening to a guided tour by Linon Medien in cooperation with the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.

We do not know whether this picture is a preliminary drawing, a template for his colleagues or a finished picture. Bellini probably painted the picture himself.

Pictures with a similar image content can also be found in Bellini's workshop. Turn around to the opposite wall: there you will see a "Lamentation", which was also created by Bellini and his colleagues. However, the picture is painted in colour.

After the crucifixion, Jesus is held by his mother Mary and John. John was Jesus' favorite disciple. He shows us Jesus' pierced hand and looks directly at us. The other people stand mourning Jesus.

The painting came to Stuttgart in 1852 along with many other paintings. Wilhelm I had bought the Barbini-Breganze collection of 250 paintings in Venice. The paintings are still among the most important works of art in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. We have researched and restored some of the paintings. That was the reason for this exhibition.

We hope you enjoyed the tour of the exhibition. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Thank you and goodbye!