DONATELLO
(b. ca. 1386, Firenze, d. 1466, Firenze)

Descent from the Cross

1460-65
Bronze
San Lorenzo, Florence

The depictions of the two central events from the Crucifixion and Deposition are placed side by side to form a long side of the Passion Pulpit. A clearly defined vertical break is provided by the ladder which is being used to take Christ's body down from the cross. Mary is leaning towards the body of her dead son, and some of the bystanders are lost in thought and mourning, while others are also using emotional gestures to express their pain. There are numerous individual figures, such as those placed at the front on the right and left, in which one has been able to identify echoes of classical sculpture. Without doubt the woman whose hands are raised in lamentation is derived from classical maenads.