This painted sketch was made by Augustus Vincent Tack (1870-1949) some time before 1939, and was hung above the altar at the Church of Saint James in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. It depicts the time just after Jesus’ death when he was lowered from the cross by a small group of supporters, come to reclaim his body. To the left are the people of Palestine, rendered here as either indifferent or hostile; to the right, a centurion (Roman soldier) represents the authority that ultimately sentenced Jesus to death. Above the drawing are words drawn from the Roman Catholic church’s Good Friday liturgy. During this ritual, known as the Adoration of the Cross, the scene pictured is reenacted. Tack included key phrases from the ritual here: on the painting’s upper edge in Greek is “Holy Immortal, O Holy God,” while running along the bottom in Latin is “O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.”
Tack, Augustus Vincent. Deposition from the Cross. Painting. before 1939. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1995-13-03/. Accessed on December 8, 2024.
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