The Deposition (also called the Bandini Pietà or The Lamentation over the Dead Christ) is a marble sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance master Michelangelo.

[2] According to Vasari, Michelangelo originally made the sculpture to decorate his tomb in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

He later sold it, however, before completion of the work after intentionally damaging Christ's left arm and leg and removing several components for reasons still under debate.

Conventionally speaking, Joseph of Arimathea is usually shown with a beard and broods over Christ's head, just like the figure in this here.

On the other hand, this figure could be Nicodemus who is typically shown with some type of head covering, which would be the hood in this case.

[10] Both Joseph and Nicodemus had significant roles in Christ's final days and the subsequent actions after his death.

Traditionally, this scene is only shared between the Virgin Mary and Christ's body without onlookers and definitely without other participants such as Magdalene and the unknown hooded figure.

[11] The Pietà is generally supposed to be a scene to highlight the huge sacrifice Christ had to make to follow through with his prophecy.

It is unknown whether or not the Virgin was present during Christ's entombment because only one of the apostles recorded her presence, so she is rarely depicted.

The cold expression on Magdalene's face suggests that some time has gone by since Christ's death insinuating that this is an entombment rather than a deposition.

[12] On one canvas, artists could cram three or four different scenes to give a narrative being read from either left to right, top to bottom, and even from one side to another in a zig-zag form.

Finally, from the far left, the Magdalene accompanies the Virgin as she hands off her son to Joseph of Arimathea for him to place in the tomb.

It is unclear which of these possibilities is actually true, but due to the conventions and traditions surrounding this sculpture, art historians and other scholars stand by that this is a Pietà and the hooded figure is Nicodemus.

Vasari noted that Michelangelo had complained about a vein in the marble causing problems for him continuously while carving.

Art historians have found possible answers that explain on a deeper level the dissatisfaction he had with the sculpture.

They theorize that Michelangelo could have had significant problems with both the growing sexual motif of a slung leg over another's lap, and with the persecution of the Nicodemists.

By 1555, Pope Paul IV had been elected head of the Catholic Church and almost instantly launched a Roman Inquisition.

Knowing that he would be questioned sooner or later by the Pope and that the self-portrait showing him as Nicodemus would be used as truly convicting evidence of his beliefs, he destroyed the work.

[24] However, John Edwards points out that no damage was done to the figure or face of "Nicodemus" which left in place the single most condemning element of the sculptural group.

This, Edwards asserts, casts doubt as to the question of Michelangelo's fear of being seen as holding heretical views.

[26] Upon receiving the Pietà, Francesco Bandini asked a young sculptor apprentice by the name of Tiberio Calcagni to restore the work.

It has been noted that prior to the destruction of the Florentine Pietà the Magdalene's face also reflected the pain shown on the Virgin's.