Lamentation over the Dead Christ - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

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Lamentation over the Dead Christ – 85/221

Dyck, Anthony van

Antwerp, Belgium, 22/03/1599-London, 09/12/1641

Oil on canvas

156.5 x 256.7 cm

c. 1627-1632

Second quarter of the 17th century

85/221

Acquired in 1985

The scene depicted here is the moment after the descent from the cross but before the burial. The body of Christ is wrapped in a shroud and lying on a flat stone slab. The Counter-Reformation highlighted this dramatic event from the Passion invented in the late 12th century with the meditations of the mystics. The anguish of the Virgin, who "could not stop looking at her son and weeping", was brought to the fore. The Counter-Reformation made the Virgo sacerdos a prominent figure as she offered her son up as a sacrifice while asking God the Father the reason for such suffering. Christ's face, in the shadows, seems sunken into his chest while his body rests between the Virgin's knees, recalling his infancy. The mother and Mary Magdalene hold Jesus's arms. And the entire scene is set in the waning light of a sombre dusk.

Van Dyck drew from classical culture for this composition, and thus Jesus's body represents the ideals of beauty in death. His torso evokes the Allegory of the Tiber and the Allegory of the Nile, which the painter may have seen in copies from collections from Flanders. Barricelli also suggested the influence of Ribera's Pietà from Saint Catherine's church in Palermo. Christ's face in the shadows is reminiscent of the Dying Gaul. The entire scene achieves a beautiful balance of shapes and drawing. The painting's exquisite facture reflects the Flemish master's second sojourn in Antwerp between 1627 and 1632. This Lamentation is similar to the one in Munich, which repeats the angels but changes the position of Christ's legs. Mary's face is the same in the replicas in Dulwich College and the Fitzwilliam Museum.

The original from the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum is the most beautiful of the repetitions that Van Dyck made. A drawing of the Virgin is conserved in Berlin's Kupferstichkabinett, and an engraving of the scene was made by Van den Wyngaerde. In 1976 and 1989, the author of this article identified the painting in Bilbao as the work of the Flemish master. [Matías Díaz Padrón]

Selected bibliography

  • Guiffrey, Jules. Antoine Van Dyck : sa vie et son oeuvre. Paris, A. Quantin, 1882. p. 249. (La cita está acompañada de fotocopias en el expediente, pero no se exactamente cual es la obra citada)
  • Cust, Lionel. Anthony van Dyck an histocal Study of his life and works. London, George bell and sons, 1900. p. 148, n° cat. 39.
  • Hipkin, W. J. Descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures, Pastel Drawings, Water-colour drawings, engravings belonging to His Grace The Duke of Newcastle at Clumber house worksop in the County of Nottingham. London, Worksop, 1924. p. 16, n° cat. 46.
  • Glück, Gustav. Van Dyck : des Meisters Gemalde. Stuttgart-Berlín, Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt, 1931. p. 364.
  • Catalogue of Pictures by Old Masters the property of the honourable the Earl of Lincoln inherited under the will of Henry Pelham Archibald Douglas Pelham-Clinton 7th Duke of Newcastle. London, March 31, 1939. p. 22, n° cat. 57.
  • Lázaro Uriarte, Luis A. "El Greco y Van Dyck en la Colección Valdés Izaguirre", Vizcaya : revista de la Excelentísima Diputación Provincial de Vizcaya, n° 12. 1959. s. p.
  • Tesoros del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : pintura, 1400-1939 [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, El Viso, 1989. pp. 56-57, n° cat. 13.
  • Díaz Padrón, Matías. "La Piedad, Lamentación sobre Cristo Muerto, de Van Dyck en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao", Urtekaria 1989 : asterlanak, albistak = anuario 1989 : estudios, crónicas. 1990. pp. 41-53.
  • Capolavori dal Museo di Bellas Artes di Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Roma, Leonardo-De Luca, 1991. pp. 50-51, n° cat. 23. (Con el título Compianto sul Cristo)
  • Gállego, Julián. "Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoak eskuratutako antxinako artelanak, 1980-1992 = Adquisiciones de arte antíguo en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1980-1992 [Folleto]", Guía de Exposiciones, n° 181. 1993. n° cat. 6.
  • Castañer López, Xesqui. Pinturas y pintores flamencos, holandeses y alemanes en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Fundación Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa, 1995. pp. 158-161.
  • Sánchez-Lassa de los Santos, Ana. Flandestarrak Bilboko Arte Eder Museoan = Flamencos en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Folleto]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2000. p. 20, n° cat. 18.
  • Zugaza, Miguel ... [et al.]. Maestros antiguos y modernos en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2001. p. 61.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 63.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 63.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 63.
  • Bustreo, Federica. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bilbao : maîtres anciens et première moitié du XX siècle. Florencia, Scala Group, 2011. pp. 64-65
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. p. 63, n° cat. 43.
  • Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. p. 63, n° cat. 43.
  • Díaz Padrón, Matías. Van Dyck en España. Barcelona, Prensa Ibérica, 2012. vol. I, pp. 306-311.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 63.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 63.
  • Maestros : Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao . Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 54-55, il.
  • Masters : Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 54-55, il.
  • Maisuak : Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 54-55, il.
  • Maîtres : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bilbao. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 54-55, il.
  • Arrizabalaga Salgado, Victor. Entre lo visible y lo invisible : el coleccionismo de arte en Bizkaia y Álava durante el siglo XX. Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia = Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, 2016. pp. 190-192, 212-213, 218, il.
  • 110 Años 110 Obras [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 21, 116-117, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Ans 110 Oeuvres [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 21, 116-117, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Urte 110 Artelan [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 21, 116-117, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Years 110 Works [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 21, 116-117, sin n° cat.
  • "El Museo de Bilbao gestiona la compra de un cuadro de Van Dyck", Deia. 05/01/1984.
  • Obras maestras de la colección Valdés [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2020. pp. 31, 98-99, n° cat. 17.
  • "A aquellos que creen que la EMOCIÓN del arte está en ponerlo al alcande de todos, un millón de gracias", Deia. 20/12/2003.