oil on canvas
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
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Christ Bidding Farewell to His Mother, with Elisabetta Rota, 1521 oil on canvas Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin |
Christ has come to Bethany to bid his mother farewell before going to Jerusalem. Mary's foreknowledge of the death he would suffer there has caused her to collapse in grief. The dramatic, staged quality of Lotto's image suggests that he was influenced by popular religious plays of the time. The painting may also represent a vision occurring in the mind of the patron, Elisabetta Rota, who meditates on her book in the foreground.