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The Deposition

Raphael, 1507

Raphael's The Deposition, dated 1507, belongs to the Galleria Borghese. It shows the dead Christ being carried toward the tomb while his mother collapses nearby. This makes it one of the young painter's most ambitious attempts at a dramatic, many-figured narrative.

Where to see it

The Deposition is held by the Galleria Borghese. The fact sheet lists its location as Room 9 (Dido). Displays can change because of conservation, rehanging or loans, so check the Galleria Borghese's official website for current display status, opening hours and ticketing before you plan your visit.

What to look for in person

The weight of the body

Start with the centre of the panel, where two men carry Christ's body in a cloth. The younger bearer on the right leans backward with his whole frame, and his straining pose makes the dead weight feel real. Christ's body hangs slack, one arm dropping toward the ground, a motif often linked to Michelangelo's Pietà. Mary Magdalene presses close and holds his hand. Notice how every figure in this group moves in a different direction, yet the eye keeps returning to the pale, still body at the heart of the action.

The fainting Virgin

Turn to the right side, where a second drama unfolds. The Virgin Mary collapses, and a group of women hurries to support her. The kneeling woman in front twists her body sharply to catch Mary, a turning pose that art historians often compare to the Virgin in Michelangelo's Doni Tondo. The painting therefore holds two events at once: the body carried toward burial and the mother overcome by grief. Look at the gap between the two groups and how a few turned heads and gestures bridge it.

Landscape, tomb and format

Behind the figures, a calm, open landscape stretches into the distance, in contrast to the tension in the foreground. On the hill at the right you can make out the crosses of Calvary, where the story began, while the dark opening of the tomb waits at the left, where it will end. The panel measures 174.5 by 178.5 cm, almost square, so the composition reads as a broad frieze of bodies moving from right to left. Step back to see the overall rhythm, then step closer for the faces.

About the painting

The Deposition was painted as an altarpiece, and its story is tied to grief within one family. It was commissioned by Atalanta Baglioni of Perugia in memory of her son Grifonetto, who was killed in 1500 during a violent feud inside the Baglioni family. The panel was made for the family chapel in the church of San Francesco al Prato in Perugia. The theme of a mother mourning her dead son therefore carried a personal meaning for the patron.

Raphael was working in Florence in these years, and the painting shows how much he was absorbing from the art around him, above all from Michelangelo. A large number of preparatory drawings survive. They show the design changing from a quieter Lamentation, with mourners gathered around the body, into the more energetic scene of Christ being carried to the tomb. This shift toward movement and physical effort makes the work a turning point in his development before he moved to Rome.

The altarpiece originally had further parts, including a predella with the Theological Virtues that is now held separately in the Vatican collections. In 1608 the main panel was removed from Perugia and taken for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, an avid collector, and it has remained with the Borghese collection ever since. A copy was installed in Perugia in its place. For visitors, knowing that this was once a family memorial in a church helps explain its mood: it combines the polish of a showpiece with real, intimate grief.

Key facts

More by Raphael

• Madonna of the Pinks — National Gallery
• La fornarina
• The Marriage of the Virgin
• Saint Catherine of Alexandria — National Gallery
• Transfiguration
• Madonna of the Goldfinch — Uffizi Gallery
• Madonna del Prato — Kunsthistorisches Museum
• Alba Madonna — National Gallery of Art
• Portrait of Leo X
• Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary — Museo del Prado
• Ansidei Madonna — National Gallery
• Ceres — Louvre Museum

Sources

• Wikidata Q2500226
• galleriaborghese.cultura.gov.it