Giovanni Bellini
Lamentation of Christ

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.