Deposition with Rooster #2

The subject of Christ’s Deposition from the Cross has been a favorite one for artists because of the many opportunities it presents for artistic creativity and theological introspection.

Of the four Gospel accounts of Jesus’ burial only John mentions Nicodemus, also an elderly man and member of the Sanhedrin, as aiding Joseph of Arimathea in the lowering of Jesus’ body from the cross. Common sense tells us that it would require more than two elderly men to lower a full grown man’s dead body even though church tradition suggests that ropes were used. This apparent omission in scripture presents an ideal opportunity for artistic license in creating a group of expressive figures in poses which support and extend the emotional implications of the narrative. 

Compositionally, the cross serves as the ideal structure or grid on which to display various figures across the surface of the picture plane, filling the tilted up, urgently reduced space (a favorite Modernist trope). Each pose, in turn,  reinforces a different facial expression and emotional reaction, focusing on the dead Christ.

In another very popular Biblical subject, the “Noli Me Tangere,” Mary is warned by Jesus after his resurrection not to embrace him because he has yet to ascend to his father in heaven. A believer’s first reaction would, understandably, be to embrace her Lord. In a “deposition” there are no constraints. The artist’s imagination is the only limit on evocative, tender, human embracing of the divine.

Lighting is always a crucial element in telling a story visually. In this painting I borrowed extensively from Rembrandt’s 17th C. “The Descent from the Cross.” A young man holds up a miner’s lamp to inspect the  horrific scene and, maybe, to count the cost of being a disciple. The inclusion of the rooster crowing at the foot of the ladder is slightly anachronistic but serves to remind us of Peter’s denial and, by extension, the abandonment by  all Jesus’ followers except John and the Marys.

Theologically, the short time period which encompasses the deposition holds a unique spot in human history.  God the Son is dead and God the Holy Spirit will not arrive until Pentecost. Therefore, these men will labor by faith alone and in their own strength to accomplish the deposition and burial of Christ. Whether they were believers who volunteered or just hired hands, so to speak, their experience must have been an awesome one worthy of empathy and reflection on the part of the viewer.