Hans Baldung Grien, 'The Trinity and Mystic Pietà', 1512

The Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist stand with Christ in his red marble tomb supporting his lifeless body. He is partially covered by a burial shroud, but the spear wound on his side is visible. Streaks of blood on his chest have run down from the cuts on his forehead caused by the crown of thorns.

The Virgin’s face is contorted with grief as she wipes her tears with her white veil. John places his hand to his breast, an agonised expression on his face. All three members of the Trinity are present: behind Christ is God the Father, also shown grieving, like a human parent; above him is the dove that represents the Holy Ghost. The divine figures occupy a heavenly realm; the yellow-gold sky seems to have dispelled the dense storm clouds, which have scattered to the edges of the scene.

The small figures in front of the tomb are probably the painting’s patrons, their size emphasising both their own humanity and the divinity of the group they worship. Women kneel on one side and men on the other, their hands pressed together in prayer. They are being led by the figure at the centre dressed as a canon, who raises his right hand and looks up towards Christ, creating a connection between the patrons and the holy figures. The patrons cast shadows on the grass beneath them, a detail that Baldung Grien included to emphasise their physical presence in contrast to the heavenly vision they are witnessing.

The two coats of arms on either side of the picture identify the donors: the one to the left is probably that of the Bettschold family of Strasbourg, and the other may be that of the Rothschild family. The painting may have been made for St Pierre-le-Vieux in Strasbourg, where Baldung Grien was born and lived. His signature appears on the tomb, just above the women’s heads, along with the date (1512), painted to look as though they are carved into the marble.