Guido Mazzoni, Lamentation Group in Ferrara
Speaker: Dr. Heather Graham
Clay becomes flesh
Stepping into the Church of the Gesù in Ferrara, Italy, we encounter a group of standing figures whose faces and bodies are contorted in expressions of sorrow. These men and women are gathered around the body of Jesus Christ, the Christian savior, who lies dead on the ground before them.
Guido Mazzoni, Lamentation, 1480s, polychromed terracotta, created for the church of Santa Maria della Rosa (no longer extant), today in the Church of the Gesù, Ferrara, Italy. Photo © Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank
Created in clay in the late fifteenth century by the artist Guido Mazzoni, these figures comprise a lamentation group, or a collection of mourners taken from biblical history. They model their grief and invite us to share their sorrows. Among the biblical figures are Mary Salome and Joseph of Arimathea, who are here modeled on portraits of Duke Ercole d'Este and his wife, Eleonora of Aragon, the Duchess of Ferrara.
Detail of Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary, and a biblical Mary. Guido Mazzoni, Lamentation, 1480s, polychromed terracotta, created for the church of Santa Maria della Rosa (no longer extant), today in the Church of the Gesù, Ferrara, Italy. Photo © Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank
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