Stations of the Cross: The Thirteenth Station, The Body of Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

Stained Glass

German, 15th Century

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

All of the Gospels agree that Jesus died fairly quickly and that a man named Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and requested the body. 1   We know, therefore, that by the evening hours of Good Friday the body of Jesus had been removed from the cross and hurriedly prepared for burial.

We also know, from all four Gospels, that members of Jesus’ family, including His mother, and several disciples were at Calvary during His death agony.  Therefore, it is reasonable to infer that they were also there for the removal of the body.  

From the Taymouth Hours

English (London), 1325-1350

London, British Library

MS Yates Thompson 13, fol. 123v

This early 14th century manuscript shows both the 

Deposition and, in the bottom margin, a Pieta image.

With these basic details in mind artists have imagined the unfolding of this tragic scene, in images known by several names:  The Deposition, the Descent from the Cross, The Body of Jesus Taken Down from the Cross, all are valid titles for the same subject.  

Closely related to this subject is the Pieta, in which the body of Jesus is laid on His mother’s lap as she sits on the ground.  This in itself has a rich image history, but it is not the subject that we are considering here, however.  Here we are looking only at those images that reflect the actual removal of the body from the cross.

Basilius, Deposition

From The Melisande Psalter

Eastern Mediterranean (Jerusalem), 1131-1143

London, British Library

MS Egerton 1139, fol. 8v

The characters with which artists have peopled their images of the subject always include Mary, St. John and Joseph of Arimathea, always imagined as a mature, even elderly, man.  Others may be Mary Magdalene and the other holy woman who followed Jesus, some of whom are named in the Gospels as being present at Calvary.  There is almost always at least one additional man, helping with the heavy task of removing the lifeless body from the cross to which it is nailed.

Ivory Deposition

North Italian, 1180-1200

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts

Romanesque Painter, Deposition

Italian , c.1180

Aquileia, Basilia Crypt

Drawing inspiration from Byzantine icons, the early images are fairly serene.  The emotions are there, especially in the person of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who reaches out to hold a hand or to kiss the dead face.  

Deposition, From Picture Bible

French (St.Omer, Abbey of St. Bertin), c.1190-1200

The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek

MS KB 76 F 5, fol. 20v

Crucifixion and Deposition
From Psalter of St. Louis and Blanche of Castille
French (Paris), c.1225
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Arsenal 1186, fol. 24

Deposition
From a Psalter
Italian (Bologna), 1275-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Smith-Lesouef 21, fol. 22

Master of the Baptism or Master of the Holy Spirit

From the Tres belles heures de Notre Dame de Jean de  Berry

French, 1400-1425

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale dr France

MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 3093, fol. 216

However, as time and techniques advanced the emotions became stronger, Mary now prays or faints from grief.  Mary Magdalene too becomes more prominent and more emotive.  Probably due to her long standing interpretation as the sinful woman who bathed Christ’s feet with her tears and dried them with her hair, she is often seen at the feet of the corpse, touching or even kissing them. 

From Livre d'images de Madame Marie

Belgian (Hainaut), c.1285-1290

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France

MS Nouvelle acquisition francaise 16252, fol. 40

Duccio, Deposition

Italian, 1308-1311

Siena, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

Pietro Lorenzetti, Deposition

Italian, c.1320

Assisi, Church of San Francesco, Lower Church

Simone Martini, Deposition
Italian, 1333
Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten

Rogier van der Weyden, Deposition

Belgian, c.1435

Madrid, Museo del Prado

Fra Angelico, Deposition Altarpiece (Pala di Santa Trinita)
Italian, 1437-1440
Florence, Museo di San Marco

Rogier van der Weyden, the Abegg Triptych

Belgian, c.1445

Riggisberg (Switzerland), Abegg-Stiftung

Dieric Bouts the Elder, Passion Alarpiece (Center)
Dutch, c.1455
Granada, Museo de la Capilla Real

Jean Bourdichon, Deposition
From Hours of Frederic of AragonFrench (Tours), 1501-1504
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 10532, fol. 198

Il Sodoma, Deposition
Italian, 1510-1513
Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale

Jan Gossart, Deposition
Flemish, c.1520
St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum

Il Rosso Fiorentino, Deposition
Italian, 1521
Volterra, Cathedral

Jacopo Pontormo, Deposition

Italian, c.1528

Florence, Church of Santa Felicita, Cappella Capponi

Tintoretto, Deposition
Italian, 1547-1549
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

Early in the seventeenth century the great Flemish painter, Peter Paul Rubens, set what would become the most common interpretation of the subject in Europe for the next 150 - 200 years.

Peter Paul Rubens, Deposition

Central panel of Triptych

Belgian, 1612-1614

Antwerp, Vrouwenkahedraal

Peter Paul Rubens, Deposition

Belgian, 1617

Lille, Musee des Beaux-Arts

Peter Paul Rubens, Deposition
Belgian, c.1620
Valenciennes, Musee des Beaux-Arts

Rembrandt, Deposition

Dutch, 1633

Munich, Alte Pinacotek

Rembrandt, Deposition

Dutch, 1634

St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum

Charles LeBrun, Deposition
French, c.1642-1645
London, Victoria and Albert Museum

Laurent de la Hyre, Deposition
French, 1655
Rouen, Musee des Beaux-Arts

LaHyre rotates the view in this unusual

interpretation of the subject.

Gaspar de Crayer, Deposition
Belgian, c.1660
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum

Jean Jouvenet, Deposition

French, 1697

Paris, Musee du Louvre

After about the middle of the eighteenth century this strongly Rubenseque theme weakened and many different interpretations of the subject appeared.

Giandomenico Tiepolo, Deposition

Italian, 1772

Madrid, Museo del Prado

Baron Jean-Baptiste Regnault

French, 1789

Versailles, Musee National du Chateau

Eugene Deveria
French, 1835
Pau, Musee des Beau-Arts

Arnold Boecklin, Deposition

Swiss, 1871-1874

Berlin, Nationalgalerie

Theodore Chasseriau, Deposition

French, 1852-1855

Paris, Musee d'Orsay

James Tissot, Deposition

From The Life of Christ

French, 1886-1894

New York, Brooklyn Museum

Eric Gill, The Body of Jesus is Taken From the

Cross and Laid in Mary's Bosom

English, 1913-1918

London, Westminster Cathedral

© M. Duffy, 2016

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1.  Matthew 27:57-59; Mark 15:42-45; Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38.

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition© 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.