Artwork
Lamentation of Christ
Lamentation of Christ is an oil painting by the Flemish Baroque painting artist Michael Willmann. It dates from 1705 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
According to the sources, the work's main subject is explicitly identified as the Lamentation of Christ, with Jesus Christ named as the figure depicted.
The painting depicts the Lamentation of Christ, a devotional subject drawn from the Gospel accounts of Christ's deposition from the Cross and the mourning over his body before burial. According to the sources, the work's main subject is explicitly identified as the Lamentation of Christ, with Jesus Christ named as the figure depicted. As a religious painting on a lime panel, it belongs to a long iconographic tradition in which the dead Christ is shown surrounded by mourners, transforming the historical event into a focus for meditation on sacrifice, grief, and redemption.
The genre classification as religious art situates the image firmly within this devotional function rather than narrative or portraiture.
The work's meaning is therefore tied to its role as a contemplative religious image, inviting viewers to engage emotionally and spiritually with the Passion of Christ. Held in the Bavarian State Painting Collections and displayed at the Alte Pinakothek, the painting continues that devotional tradition within a major European museum context.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1705, this religious painting by Michael Willmann utilizes oil paint applied to a lime panel support. The work measures 87.7 cm in height and 72.7 cm in width. As a depiction of the Lamentation of Christ, the piece employs the material characteristics typical of Baroque panel painting, combining the durability of the wood substrate with the luminous potential of oil mediums to render the sacred subject matter.
History & Provenance
The Lamentation of Christ was painted by Michael Willmann in 1705. Executed in oil paint on a lime panel, the work measures 87.7 cm in height and 72.7 cm in width and depicts Jesus Christ. As a religious painting, it entered the Bavarian State Painting Collections and is now displayed at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
The painting’s provenance after its completion is thus traced to this institutional collection, with no earlier ownership details recorded in the available sources.
Michael Willmann's oil painting Lamentation of Christ, dated 1705, is held within the Bavarian State Painting Collections. The work is specifically located in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. While the source provides the creation date of January 1, 1705, and physical dimensions, it does not list a specific inventory or accession number for the piece. Additionally, the available records do not document any specific exhibition history for this artwork.
Context
Michael Willmann's 1705 oil painting Lamentation of Christ, housed in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, occupies a significant position within German Baroque religious art. The work depicts the biblical scene of the Virgin Mary cradling the dead Christ, rendered in oil on lime wood panel measuring 87.7 cm by 72.7 cm. Willmann, active in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, developed his style within the Lutheran-influenced religious art tradition of Northern Germany, where such depictions of Christ's lamentation remained central to devotional practice. The painting's composition and emotional intensity reflect the evolving Baroque aesthetic while maintaining ties to earlier Northern European devotional imagery.
Overview
Lamentation of Christ is a 1705 oil painting by Michael Willmann, a prominent Baroque artist.
Artist & collection
Artist
Michael Leopold Lukas Willmann (27 September 1630 – 26 August 1706) was a German painter.
