Dead Christ

Abstract

This small polychrome terracotta statue (ca. 1730), by Angelo Gabriello Piò (Bologna, 1690–1770) and located at the Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, depicts the Dead Christ in a pose reminiscent of the Pietà—a subject which usually depicts the Blessed Virgin cradling her son. The sculpture captures Christ immediately after his deposition from the cross, with a lingering expression of pain and agony. His limp body rests on a grey rock, likely sculpted in terracotta and painted.

The polychromy, although abraded, adds to the drama. Christ's skin appears pale, covered in a translucent white paint, with red highlights on the hands and feet where he was nailed to the cross. Abrasions from physical damage, paint chipping, and age-related thinning have revealed the pink terracotta underneath. The wooden base is not original to the sculpture.

Representations of the Pietà were a favoured subject for the sculptor. Piò made his debut as an artist in Bologna in 1712. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.