Giovanni Bellini, 'The Dead Christ supported by Two Angels', about 1465-70

Giovanni Bellini returned to the subject of the dead Christ many times over the course of his career. This type of image of Christ after his death – close up, showing his naked torso – was sometimes known as the ‘Imago Pietatis’ (‘image of pity’). It originated in Byzantium but was very popular in Italy from about the thirteenth century, and was supposed to promote meditation upon Christ’s suffering and death.

Bellini maintained the focus on the torso and wounds but experimented with differing backgrounds and positions for Christ’s arms, which were traditionally shown crossed in front of him. Here Christ is supported by two angels who hold his arms to prop him upright. The resulting pose is appropriately awkward and unnatural; it highlights the weight and inertia of his dead body but also its physicality – it is thrust towards us, challenging us to contemplate it. This stark confrontation is emphasised by the dark background and the strong lighting, reminiscent of the fashion for portraits in this period.

The resulting sculptural effect shows the influence of the Florentine sculptor Donatello who tackled this subject several times. Bellini probably knew Donatello’s version of the subject sculpted in marble for the high altar of the cathedral in Padua, a city near Venice. That work includes supporting angels – Donatello’s inventive addition to the standard image.

The Dead Christ supported by Angels differs significantly from Bellini’s earlier experimentations with the ‘Imago Pietatis’, in which Christ is shown emaciated, his bones protruding from his paper-white skin (see, for example, the version of 1457 now in the Poldi Pezzoli, Milan). Sharp angles emphasise the curious, brittle appearance of rigor mortis, and Bellini seems to have been influenced by Mantegna’s more linear approach to composing images (Mantegna was his brother-in-law). The depiction of Christ’s body we see in this image is closer to Donatello’s sculpture. Donatello was deeply interested in classical sculpture and his works often showed idealised bodies. Although Bellini’s Christ is thin, his torso and shoulders are broad and his body resembles a statue of a pagan god more than a corpse. Although his lips are a bloodless grey and there are dark circles beneath his eyes, his facial features have classical forms and proportions.

This is one of Bellini’s earliest pictures where he used oil – analysis has identified walnut oil – to bind his pigments. Working with oil requires a different technique to working in tempera (pigment bound with egg). Although this is one of his first experiments with oil, he used it to create different effects – the stroke of white paint under Christ’s left eye is painted quite broadly, whereas incredibly fine strokes define individual hairs in his beard. This is quite different from the minute and carefully applied brushstrokes Bellini used in his tempera paintings, such as The Blood of the Redeemer.