Focus on Pietà (Ribera, Madrid) and explore the Description.
The painting is in oils on canvas and its dimensions are 157 x 210 cm. It is owned by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.Ribera painted two other known canvases of the same subject. One is in the San Martino Museum and the other is in the National Gallery, London.
The work is part of a transition period in which the artist, without leaving the shadows of tenebrism, began to experiment with brighter coloring inspired by the work of artists such as Rubens and van Dyck.The body of Christ is framed horizontally in the foreground of the composition. On the right, John the Apostle supports the subject's back while the grieving Mary Magdalene kisses Christ's feet. In the center is Mary with a face ravaged by pain looking to the sky and placing her hands together in prayer. At the upper right, the face of Joseph of Arimathea emerges from the darkness, veiled by the chiaroscuro technique.
The spotlight of the composition is focused on the recumbent body and harshly exposes Christ's painful wounds, while a corresponding psychic pain is expressed in the face and gesture of the Virgin.
Mary Magdalene tenebrism Rubens van Dyck chiaroscuro Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum San Martino Museum National Gallery Joseph of Arimathea John the Apostle Madrid