After Massimo Stanzione, Monks and Holy Women mourning over the Dead Christ

The lifeless body of Christ has been taken down from the Cross and lies on a white sheet – the shroud with which he will be wrapped and placed in the tomb. Behind him is the Virgin Mary, eyes raised to heaven in grief, and alongside her Saint John the Evangelist, mopping his eyes with a handkerchief, and a second woman, probably Mary Magdalene. In the foreground, bending down to kiss Christ’s hands and feet, are two monks in the white robes of the Carthusian Order.

This is a much-reduced copy of a large altarpiece painted for the Carthusian monastery in Naples by Massimo Stanzione, one of the leading painters in Naples in the seventeenth century. Though he was a great rival of Jusepe Ribera, Stanzione frequently collaborated on commissions with other artists working in Naples, including Artemisia Gentileschi. Stanzione’s rich colour and naturalism greatly influenced Neapolitan artists such as Bernardino Cavallino. From 1630 Stanzione was almost constantly involved in large-scale church commissions in Naples. He executed a number of works for the Carthusian monks in the church of the Certosa di San Martino in Naples; some of which, including the original of this composition, are still in situ.

This copy may date from the eighteenth century and is unusual for being painted on slate, a support whose smooth surface and dark grey colour not only evokes the gloom in which the scene is set, but also perfectly enhances the three-dimensionality of the figures that are the subject of this picture.