Vatican Museums: The Works of Mercy #7
Francescuccio di Cecco, called "Francescuccio Ghissi", The Dead Christ and the Angels; Adoration of the Child Jesus, tempera and gilding on poplar, c.1360, Vatican Art Gallery © Musei Vaticani
Ghissi created this painting by uniting the central themes of Franciscan spirituality: the Incarnation and the Passion. They are represented in two images, one on top of the other: the Imago pietatis and the Adoration of the Child Jesus. The image of the Dead Christ seeks to evoke the Eucharistic sacrifice, with angels adoring in a tomb in the form of a tabernacle, besides the sufferings of the Passion and perhaps the feast of Corpus Christi. His birth and death—ideally connected—allude to the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, who became man for our redemption.
(Pope St. John Paul II, Encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 2003)
Under the direction of Paolo Ondarza
#BeautyThatUnites
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