On the first day of my recent trip to Italy, I went to see this intense and dramatic group of life size terracotta figures in Santa Maria della Vita, in Bologna. The figures are the work of Niccolo dell’Arca from circa 1463. The group depicts the Madonna, the three Marys, John the Apostle and Joseph of Aremathea mourning and grieving over the dead body of Jesus.
I found this work very moving, there is so much passionate action and expression displayed in their bodies, faces and hands; it’s as if the figures could burst into life any minute.
