Lamentation of Christ

In 1859, the sculpture “Lamentation of Christ” by Emanuele Max replaced an older Pietà with Two Angels by Johann Brokof (1695), which was transferred to the area of the hospital Pod Petřínem. Under a bronze cross, which mirrors the cross of the Calvary sculpture opposite, three figures mourn the body of the dead Christ, which has just been taken down from the crucifix. The upper half of Christ’s lifeless body rests on the lap of seated Virgin Mary, while Mary Magdalene, kneeling, kisses Christ’s lifeless right hand. The pinnacle of the pyramidal composition is the standing figure of the grieving St. John the Evangelist. The Latin inscription on the simple architectural pedestal, a biblical quotation from the Book of Lamentations (Lam 1:12), reads: “O vos omnes qui transitis per viam, attendite [et] videte, si est dolor similis sicut dolor meus,” i.e. : “Look around and see, is any suffering like my suffering?” The sculpture was commissioned by the city of Prague and funded through a public collection.