Botticelli's Lamentation over the Dead Christ is the distinguished guest of the Gallerie d'Italia in Naples

On the occasion of the ninth edition of L’Ospite illustre, the Gallerie d’Italia - Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano in Naples is exhibiting The Lamentation over the Dead Christ, a work by Sandro Botticelli from the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan.

The painting is on view to the public until September 29, 2019.

The canvas depicts with emotional participation the moment when Jesus is about to be laid in the tomb. Christ’s body lies in the foreground, in the lap of the Mother who, overcome with grief, is unconscious and is supported by St. John the Evangelist. Mary Magdalene, wrapped in a red cloth and with her eyes closed, embraces Jesus’ soiled feet with transport. The second pious woman stands holding Jesus’ head in her hands, while the third weeps with her face hidden by her mantle. Joseph of Arimathea shows to heaven the symbols of the Passion, namely the crown of thorns and the three nails removed from the cross and Christ’s body.

Datable to the early 16th century, the work, among the greatest examples of Botticelli’s mature production, is identified with the painting described in 1568 by Giorgio Vasari on an altar in the Florentine church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It was purchased on March 12, 1879, by Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli, a noble collector and founder of the Milanese house-museum.

In order to emphasize the close relations between Florence and Naples between the 15th and 16th centuries, the Transportation of Christ to the Sepulcher by Pedro Fernández, a painting of a similar theme kept at the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples, is displayed for comparison. It is the central compartment of the predella of the large two-tier polyptych that, until the mid-18th century, was on the high altar of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Caponapoli. When the polyptych was dismembered following the Napoleonic suppressions, the panel arrived in 1811 at the Bourbon picture gallery and later at the Capodimonte Museum.

"New Illustrious Guest welcomed to our Gallerie d’Italia in Naples, thanks to the exchange and collaboration relationship with the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, is the masterpiece of a great master of the Italian Renaissance, Sandro Botticelli. The extraordinary Lamentation from the collections of the prestigious Milanese museum is further enhanced by a dialogue with a painting by Pedro Fernández on loan from Capodimonte. The ninth edition of the exhibition thus consolidates Intesa Sanpaolo’s synergy with two important national museum institutions and confirms how theIllustrious Guest is an opportunity to admire works of exceptional beauty and to deepen the study and knowledge of Italian art, in full harmony with the vision of our Bank’s Progetto Cultura," said Michele Coppola, Executive Director Art, Culture and Historical Assets at Intesa Sanpaolo.

The exhibition is curated by Alessandro Cecchi.

For info: www.gallerieditalia.com

Hours: Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Tickets: Full 5 euros, reduced 3 euros.

Image: Sandro Botticelli, Lamentation over the Dead Christ (c. 1501-1505; tempera grassa on panel, 106 × 71 cm; Milan, Museo Poldi Pezzoli)
© Opificio delle Pietre Dure and Restoration Laboratories, Florence

Botticelli's Lamentation over the Dead Christ is the distinguished guest of the Gallerie d'Italia in Naples

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