Three Figures (recto); Sketches of Kneeling Figures and Putti (verso) 1760 - 1806

Domenico Mondo created this drawing, "Three Figures," likely in the 18th century. The sketch shows three figures caught in a moment of tension: two men carry the third, limp and seemingly lifeless, their bodies twisted in a dramatic dance of support and grief. This motif—the deposition, the carrying of a fallen figure—echoes through art history, resonating with works like Michelangelo’s Pietà. The classical contrapposto stance, here imbued with a Baroque sense of drama, amplifies the emotional weight. The act of carrying, of bearing a burden, taps into a primal, shared human experience. We see this echoed in countless images of the Passion, where Christ is taken down from the cross, or in scenes from antiquity where heroes carry their wounded comrades from battle. This visual language—a shared vocabulary of suffering and compassion—speaks to our collective memory. It reminds us that these stories, these burdens, transcend time, resurfacing again and again in our art and our consciousness.