3-084-923 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Virgin Mary and Mourners at the Crucifixion, 1588. Her hands raised heavenward in a gesture of deepest distress, the Virgin Mary has sunk to the ground. Her body is grouped with those of the disciples offering her support and the mourning woman behind her in such a way as to imitate the form of Christ's cross, which is being erected in the background. Philipp Uffenbach - the young Adam Elsheimer's Frankfurt teacher - thus staged the Virgin suffering vicariously for her son. The pain endured by the Blessed Mother beneath the cross is intended to provide the faithful with access to the experience of Christ's Passion.