Giotto, Deposition of Christ

Deposition of Christ/ Giotto

Giotto (1226-1337), the Renaissance artist from Florence, Italy, depicted the moment Jesus has died on the cross, carrying the sins of all human beings (Beckett). As Jesus is brought down from the cross and lies in his mother’s arm, people lament over his death. Five women surround Jesus and hold his body gently, so that it is not touching the ground. Mary, who is cuddling the upper body of Jesus, shows her despair and hopelessness through her expression. She is not shedding tears, but she looks like she lost the whole world. There are two figures, facing the body of Jesus instead of the viewers (Beckett). How Giotto made these figures sit in the direction of Jesus instead of the viewers implies that his ultimate goal was to bring all attention to Jesus. Because these two mysterious figures are crouching, and they seem to be also looking at the corpse of Jesus, the viewers take another look at Jesus (Beckett). Then, there is the rest of the crowd, all looking hopeless about the death of their savior. In the upper half of the canvas, the angels are also mourning about the death of Jesus. By making the subjects in the painting looking at Jesus, Giotto absolutely emphasized the theme of his painting.
This is a desperate moment in the bible. Jesus, who was considered the savior for all people, has been accused by Roman occupants for spreading lies and blasphemy. It has been decided that he will be crucified on the cross. After his last supper with his disciples, Jesus walks up the Golgotha hill carrying his cross on his body. People mock him and laugh at him as he is hung on the cross. Giotto depicted the mournful scene after the death of this holy and sacred man. However, Giotto implies the message of hope that can be found in this painting. Also because Giotto was a Renaissance painter, a time of revival in art, the description and use of color is very soft. Instead of depicting the death of Christ in a gloomy manner, Giotto describes the scene with pastel colors, creating a warm mood.
Even in the deepest moments of despair, Giotto’s piece does not extremely look gloomy and sad. Instead, the pastel colors make the tone and mood of the painting brighter and softer. Also, the people surrounding Jesus look mournful and sad, but the halo drawn around each of them also balances out the lamentation with a sense of life and brightness. Here, Giotto implies a sense of hope that these people will receive, which is the eternal life one would gain by becoming a follower of Jesus. The hope that these people will soon receive is the resurrection of Jesus. The soft and tender tone of the painting reveals the possible existence of hope.