"And after this Joseph of Arimathæa, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave" (John 19:38).
The Victoria & Albert Museum has launched a campaign to save an exquisite 12th-century ivory carving of the Deposition of Christ for the nation. For many years this piece was an integral part of the displays in the museum’s Medieval and Renaissance Galleries, on long loan from a private owner. Imbued with breathtaking emotional intensity, its visceral depth of expression is rendered in the face of Joseph of Arimathea, whose compassionate eyes gaze up at the slumped figure and lifeless face of Jesus. Here is the figure that has “begged” for the body of Jesus, and to whom Pilate has granted it as the daylight fades.
