The Lamentation 1555 - 1565

Editor: This is Luis de Morales' "The Lamentation," an oil painting from sometime between 1555 and 1565. It's quite a sorrowful scene. The tight composition and muted palette really amplify the feeling of grief, but it seems so contained. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The visual tension is indeed palpable. Morales uses a restricted color palette – observe the predominance of somber grays, greens, and browns – to underscore the gravity of the scene. The figures are compressed within the pictorial space, almost claustrophobic. This reinforces the emotional weight, wouldn't you agree? Editor: I see that. And it seems like there is a really intense focus on their facial expressions... Curator: Precisely. The artist’s Mannerist style elongates the figures and contorts their poses. Notice how each face is rendered with meticulous detail. How the faces tilt downwards? The carefully positioned hands guide our eye, and this contributes to the highly artificial, staged quality typical of Mannerist painting. It's designed to evoke a very specific, and heightened, emotional response. What do you make of Christ’s face? Editor: Well, I suppose there is nothing realistic about this presentation. I notice the way the body of Christ is idealized despite the supposed trauma he has endured. Also, it doesn't really give me a sense of hope, but more of like... the end. Curator: An astute observation. It emphasizes the finality and despair inherent in the Passion narrative through purely formal means, such as figure arrangement and tonal values. Editor: I now look at this piece in a different way, focusing on form rather than the narrative it represents. Curator: Indeed, this closer examination reveals much about the artwork's meaning, revealing it's the formal qualities are carriers of its intense emotive charge.