Christ Taking Leave of His Mother

Faint with anguish, Mary collapses and has to be supported by John and Mary Magdalene.

Jesus has just told her of the sufferings he is about to undergo. He kneels before her and asks for her blessing.

Jesus is accompanied by Peter, recognisable from his attribute, the keys, and another apostle, who has been variously identified as Judas, Thomas, Joseph and James the Less.

The dramatic scene takes place in a barrel-vaulted portico.

The portico opens on to a garden, surrounded by a high wall. Trellised avenues meet to form a cross, crowned by a central cupola.

The garden is separated from the portico by a fence with an open gate.

The garden, in which two rabbits are hopping around, alludes to the hortus conclusus or enclosed garden, a metaphor from the Song of Songs [4,12] symbolising the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception.

Kneeling on the right-hand side of the picture, accompanied by a small dog, is the patron, Elisabetta Rota, who commissioned the painting in 1521. She looks up from a book to witness the leave-taking scene.

Truncated by the lower edge of the picture is a folded letter bearing the signature of the artist and the date of the painting.

The cherry branch and orange twig in the foreground of the painting reinforce the impression of depth.

Christ’s farewell to his mother, taking place on the Wednesday evening of Holy Week, signals the start of his sufferings, which will culminate in his death and, ultimately, in the Resurrection.

Christ taking leave of his Mother was a subject not often depicted in Italian painting. It does not appear in the Gospels, but emerged in late Medieval art, thanks to the influence of the Meditationes of Pseudo-Bonaventure.

Familiar from passion plays, it was associated with the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, celebrated in the Roman Catholic liturgy on 15 September.