The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC is treating visitors to a special exhibit of Jacopo Tintoretto’s works in celebration of the Venetian painter’s 500th birthday.
Housed in around half a dozen rooms, the paintings span Tintoretto’s career. The second room contains a piece from about 1562, The Deposition of Christ. Christ has been brought down from the cross, abused and dead. But perhaps the painting’s most striking feature is the haunting expression on the Blessed Mother’s face. Tintoretto’s Mary is stricken, almost as lifeless as her son. The part of her face not obscured by shadows reveals darkened eyes no longer capable of producing tears. Her son’s body lies across her legs as she, herself, must be held up by another.
