The Meditation on the Passion

This remarkable picture is a meditation on Death and Resurrection. Christ’s dead body is displayed on a broken throne inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew. A bird—symbol of the soul—flies upwards. The landscape—contrastingly barren and lush—alludes to the themes of death and life, as do the animals. The Old Testament prophet Job sits on a block inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew while opposite is Saint Jerome (ca. 347–420), who wrote a commentary on the book of Job. The turbaned figures in the background would have been familiar to Venetians through their trade with the Middle East and Egypt. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)