Lamentation over the Dead Christ

The standing figure who dominates this altarpiece of the Lamentation is Joseph of Arimathea, the man responsible for Jesus’ burial. He points to Golgotha, the hill upon which Jesus and two thieves were crucified. The Jordan River divides this background detail from the scene of mourning in the foreground. In the water is St. Christopher, the Canaanite who according to tradition guided the infant Christ across the river.

The church of San Cristoforo dei Bastardini in Ferrara commissioned this altarpiece, hence the unusual presence of St. Christopher in a scene related to Jesus’ death. It is one of Ortolano’s mature works. The orchestration between figure and landscape points to knowledge of Raphael’s classical compositions. A very similar version of the painting is in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.