Lamentation

Jacopo Palma il Giovane

National Gallery of Art

This painting features a group of individuals surrounding a man. He is seated, supported by the others. The man has pale skin, long dark hair, a dark beard, and eyes that appear closed. He is nude except for a white cloth around his waist and two more hanging from his shoulders. Blood is dripping from his forehead, his hands and feet, and a cut along his torso. A halo of yellow light shines from behind his head. Surrounding him are five people with pale skin and various hairstyles, all wearing richly colored garments. Two of them seem to be women with their heads covered. Two more seem to be young men with long, flowing hair. The fifth is an old man with gray hair and a gray beard, standing behind the central man. The background is dark, with a small patch of blue sky visible near the top left corner, and the ground below the group is brown, with a circle of thorny branches sitting by the feet of the central man.