The composition is an emblematic example of Vesperbild, an image venerated at the time of Vespers on Good Friday to meditate on the human drama of the Passion of Christ.
According to a recent hypothesis, the sculpture group was once part of the predella in the main altar of the church of Nostra Signora in Vipiteno, created between 1456 and 1459 by Swabian sculptor Hans Multscher. The complex was dismantled in 1779-1780, and its elements were reused for various purposes or lost. The sculpture probably arrived in Rovereto following these episodes.