Lamentation from Scenes from the Life of Christ, Giotto di Bondone, 1304-06, Fresco, 200 X 185 cm, Arena Chapel, Padua Italy

Week #5 …died, and was buried, he descended to the dead,

Giotto, in this scene of the Lamentation of Christ, shows us the individual grief of those who surrounded Jesus after his descent from the cross. Each in his own way grieves over his death….over the death of innocence. Their love for Christ, holds them there in this moment and they can not turn away. In this moment they become a community bonded together by their love of Jesus. And so, it is Giotto who brings this scene to life in a ground breaking depiction of Jesus’ life and death….scenes that place Jesus in a realistic time and space.

As I was considering the importance of a meditation on the scenes surrounding Christ death and burial, I was drawn once again to pour over the pages of…