WEYDEN, Rogier van der
(b. 1400, Tournai, d. 1464, Bruxelles)

Deposition (detail)

c. 1435
Oil on oak panel
Museo del Prado, Madrid

The other main character in the picture is Mary. The Mother of God, sinking to the ground as if dead, forms a parallel to Christ, allowing the artist to create a link between the two main groups in a bold effect of composition, since they are moving in different directions: Christ is being carried away to the right, while Mary is falling to the left. At the same time, the correspondence between the figures illustrates an important theological idea of the time Mary's own compassionate suffering and her part in Christ's act of redemption.