Graflegging van Christus 1568 - 1584

Curator: The piece we are viewing is an engraving by Orazio de Santis entitled “Graflegging van Christus,” created between 1568 and 1584. It depicts the entombment of Christ. Editor: Immediately striking is the grief rendered in such stark lines. Everyone is overcome—bodies slump and lean; it’s almost unbearable to witness. Curator: Consider the weight of that symbolism – the grief echoes centuries of mourning and loss experienced by women as guardians and caregivers in times of death. Editor: It feels as if de Santis captures the very instant when ritual collapses into raw, unfiltered emotion. Curator: Exactly, and that emotion, filtered through Renaissance artistic conventions, creates enduring visual and emotional resonance. Do you notice anything specific about how the artist renders figures, invoking specific images of their roles? Editor: The hooded woman’s posture certainly evokes the trope of the suffering mother throughout the ages; is she intended to signify not only Mary but all mothers who mourn? The piece certainly speaks to female suffering, almost beyond its original Christian intention. Curator: And yet it's critical to understand the iconographic context; the deposition scene had a very precise place in late medieval piety. It’s part of the Arma Christi—images prompting very specific forms of devotion tied to the passion of Christ. Editor: It reminds me how readily symbols and archetypes transcend those intentions, reflecting and refracting in a myriad of interpretations across diverse audiences. Curator: Ultimately, “Graflegging van Christus” reminds us that even within formal constraints and artistic movements, human emotions are enduringly complex and, often, beautifully rendered. Editor: And the image highlights how representation remains perpetually renegotiated and deeply tied to our collective understandings of gender and experience.