CHRIST, dead, is extended upon the knees of his ; ; in raises her eyes towards heaven, and appears overwhelmed with grief. St. John holds the hand of Christ, and discovers to an angel, whose body is enveloped in clouds, the wounds occasioned by the nails. This divine personage joins her hands in the manner the most tender and compassionate, while another, unable to witness the afflicting scene, conceals her face by a black drapery. Although Vandyck has painted several historical pictures, superior to the one under review, we still perceive many of the beauties by which the works of this great painter are distinguished. The character of death is well expressed by the livid countenance of Christ, and in the sinking down of the muscles of the body. It might, perhaps, have been desirable that the nudity of this figure had been more correct, in point of drawing. The extended arms of the Virgin present, in some measure, a theatrical effect: but Vandyck received his style from Rubens, whose manner deviates, sometimes, from the simplicity of the great masters of Italy and France. The figures of the angel and St. John are well depicted, and are not wanting in dignity. The colouring of this picture has not all the delicacy of tints observable in the productions of Vandyck; but it possesses considerable vigour, and that skilful exaggeration which is not a defect in an historical composition. The choice of drapery is made, with judgment, to concur in the general effect. The robe of the Virgin is white, coloured with demi-tints, her upper garment violet, and that of St. John dark brown. The sky, the clouds, and the rocks, present vigorous tones; and the hand of a great master is discernable in the easy manner with which the picture is executed. The figures are of the natural size. |