Collection Online
Lamentation of Christ
Medium
stone
Measurements
91.5 × 95.0 × 18.8 cm
Place/s of Execution
Padua, Italy
Accession Number
1276-D4
Department
International Sculpture
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented by Tomas Harris Esq., 1952
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Gallery location
14th - 16th Century Gallery - Painting & Decorative Arts
Level 1, NGV International
About this work

In the fifteenth century a sophisticated type of sculpture using shallow relief carving was developed by the Florentine sculptor Donatello and his followers, including Bartolommeo Bellano. Known as schiacciato or ‘flattened-out’ carving, the technique was widely used for devotional subjects, such as this Lamentation. These sculptures, which were typically painted and gilded, blended subtly with the wall surface, but ‘came to life’ under flickering candle light, which animated the interplay of flattened planes and threw shadows that produced effects of depth.