Christ as the Man of Sorrows

In 1525 Andrea del Sarto frescoed the Madonna del Sacco over a door in the great cloister of Santissima Annunziata, the Servite convent in Florence where he had worked on and off since 1509. This Christ comes from the same house. Vasari saw it in a niche at the top of a staircase in the novitiate, where the young friars trained, so the figure was meant to be seen from the steps below, which explains the steep foreshortening. Christ sits on the edge of his tomb showing his wounds, the image known as the Man of Sorrows. The colours stay close to greys and flesh. Only the red loincloth stands out, with a yellow cloth beside him that holds the lance tip and the vinegar sponge. The drops of blood on his forehead remain, while the crown of thorns, painted on the dry plaster like the halo, has worn away.