The Dead Christ mourned by Angels
after Guercino (Cento 1591 – Bologna 1666)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1600 - 1699
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
330 x 420 mm
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 436097
Caption
This picture was bought by the 1st Earl Brownlow in 1810 from a Mr Ruyssen, 'an eminent instructor in Oil Painting', who had made the half-length copy of Reynolds's ‘Speaker Cust’ (now in the Marble Hall) that he presented to Speaker's House in 1804. He perhaps also made this copy. The original is now in the National Gallery, London. Elizabeth Cust, in her catalogue of the picture at Belton, described it as “a good Study but not a very valuable Picture ….” There is no New Testament source for an image of Christ mourned by two angels. But two angels are described emerging from his tomb on the morning after the Resurrection (John 20: 11-17). The National Gallery picture seems to be set in the open air and may be meant to suggest instead the Lamentation over the body of Christ after the Deposition.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Dead Christ mourned by Angels after Guercino (Cento 1591 – Bologna 1666), 17th century. Two angels lamenting over the body of the dead Christ. Although the scene is not specifically mentioned any of the biblical gospel books in the New Testament, two angels are described at the tomb of Christ on the morning of the Resurrection (John 20: 11-13) before Christ rises and Mary Magdalen sees and approaches him. The original painting on copper, of 1617-18, is in National Gallery in London (NG22) and two drawings directly connected with the original composition are in the Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, and Copenhagen Museum.
Provenance
Mr Ruyschen (Ruyssen?) 'an eminent instructor in Oil Painting' who perhaps made the copy; bought by Lord Brownlow in April 1810; purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) from Edward John Peregrine Cust, 7th Baron Brownlow, C. St J. (b.1936) in 1984
Credit line
Belton House, The Brownlow Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund by the National Trust in 1984)
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: Elizabeth Cust's label: Guercino da Cento/Bot. Ld. Brownlow/1810/278. Marks scratched in ink on the stretcher 120 1A 324
Makers and roles
after Guercino (Cento 1591 – Bologna 1666) , artist