Scipione Pulzone (Il Gaetano)
The Lamentation

1593
Oil on canvas, 114 x 68 in. (289.6 x 172.7 cm.)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no. 1984.74

The man in red is presumably Joseph of Arimathea. All four gospels credit him with gaining permission to take Jesus' body down and lay it in a tomb. In John's gospel he is helped by Nicodemus, a "ruler of the Jews" who had nonetheless seen in Jesus a "teacher from God."1 He is most likely the man standing behind Joseph.

The woman in blue is of course Jesus' mother Mary. The body is stretched out on her lap as in Pietà images. On her right and left are St. John the Evangelist and St. Mary Magdalene. John can be identified by his youthful appearance, Mary Magdalene by her long blond hair and typical emotionality. Other women weep in the background.

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Photographed at the museum by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

1 Matthew 27:57-61, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-56, John 19:38-42, 3:1-2.