Dead Christ Supported by Three Angels (Pietà)

The panel is the unique painting made by the messinese artist today existing in Venice. This is an original interpretation of a very typical theme of the Venetian culture: the ‘Pietà’, subject very well studied by Giovanni Bellini (see room no. 36 of this Museum). In the foreground Christ's body, sitting on the opened sarcophagus, is supported by three angels with long wings; in the background there is view of a city, identified with Messina (artist's home town), thanks to the presence of an accurate representation of the Church of San Francesco in the upper right.

The painting is well conserved in the area of Christ's plastic body and of the detailed landscape in the background; on the contrary, because of a previous and damaging cleaning intervention, the characters' faces are absolutely unrecognisable.

We don't know anything about the original destination of this panel, maybe it was part of an altarpiece or maybe it was destined to private devotion. It is believed that the painting has been carried out in Messina, soon after the artist’s documented stay in Venice between 1475-1476.