Interactive Images. Depositions of Christ in Italy, 1200–1700.

Italy has more than 400 articulated statues of the crucified Christ dating from the 14th to 17th century. What were they used for? Comparison with contemporary written sources shows that they were used on many different occasions such as preaching, public and private devotion, paraliturgy of the laity, and sacred drama. This essay aims to reconstruct the forms of contamination between the liturgical celebration of the death and burial of Christ and the devotional, paraliturgical and dramatic celebration promoted by the laity, in particular by confraternal associations.