He lifts the body down.
Bible in art · John
Miniature Excised from the "Potocki Psalter": The Deposition
Master of the Potocki Workshop · c. 1240–1250
The Cleveland Museum of Art
A miniature cut from the “Potocki Psalter”, painted in Paris about 1240–1250. Behind the figures is burnished gold leaf, and the drapery is painted in deep blue and red.
A man in red lifts the body of Jesus down from the cross while Mary holds his arm. A kneeling man pulls a nail from the feet with pincers, and John stands at the right, his hand to his face.
From the text
- Joseph of Arimathea removes the body (John 19:38)
- Nicodemus comes too (John 19:39)
The artist’s own
- The pincers pulling out a nail
- Sun and moon at the top of the picture
Details
Joseph
Mary
She holds his arm.
The pincers
A kneeling man pulls out a nail.
John
He stands with his hand to his face.
Master of the Potocki Workshop (French, Paris). The Cleveland Museum of Art (Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund, 1985.80) · tempera, and gold on vellum · Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access: Collection API record "share_license_status": "CC0" (Creative Commons Zero, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).