Lamentation of Christ

[3] As the depiction of the Passion of Christ increased in complexity towards the end of the first millennium, a number of scenes were developed covering the period between the death of Jesus on the Cross and his being placed in his tomb.

[4] The Deposition of Christ, where the body is being taken down from the cross, shown almost always in a vertical or diagonal position still off the ground, was the first scene to be developed, appearing first in late 9th century Byzantine art, and soon after in Ottonian miniatures.

In fully populated Lamentations the figures shown with the body include The Three Marys, John the Apostle, Joseph and Nicodemus, and often others of both sexes, not to mention angels and donor portraits.

[9] Giotto di Bondone's famous depiction in the Scrovegni Chapel includes ten further female figures, who are not intended to be individualized as they have no halos.

The subject became increasingly a separate devotional image, concentrating on Mary's grief for her son, with less narrative emphasis; the logical outcome of this trend was the Pietà, showing just these two figures, which was especially suitable for sculpture.

The famous Mantegna painting, clearly motivated by an interest in foreshortening, is essentially an Anointing, and many scenes, especially Italian Trecento ones and those after 1500, share characteristics of the Lamentation and the Entombment.