Deposition Study I

The DEPOSITION (from the verb to depose or take down) is a favorite theme of mine, and of artists through the centuries, for many reasons. I have done dozens of versions of this theme over the decades; many of them based on Rembrandt's deposition masterpieces, as is the one in the exhibit.

The composition, an arrangement of bodies in various poses across a shallow space, allows the artist to indulge in an unencumbered examination of the human form without worrying about figures sinking into deeper space--they are all held close up to the picture plane like a modernist trope. For me, this inventory of human forms and gestures becomes a virtual Chinese calligraphic screen where I can write to my heart's content.

As a narrative from John 19: 38-9, the deposition becomes a denouement of the Passion of Christ--a final replay and release of Good Friday's emotions and tensions. The artist is allowed close-up and full angle visual access to each person's final reaction to the body of their dead Christ. These emotions may run the gamut from gut-wrenching horror to numb disbelief, from the depths of sadness to awe-inspired enlightenment. The scripture says that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are present, finally revealing their secret faith in Jesus. However, it would take many more than two elderly men to free and lower the lifeless body of a grown man from the cross. So the artist is implicitly granted artistic license to include men and women who will also serve his aesthetic, expressive and theological purposes.