A fabulous and rare Russian icon The Deposition of Christ!

The taking down of Christ’s dead body from the cross is traditionally known in art as the ‘Deposition of Christ’. Sometimes the episode is also known as the ‘Descent from the Cross’ or the ‘Lamentation of Christ’. The act is described very briefly in all four gospels (Matthew 27:55-57; Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-39).

To check that he really was dead, a Roman soldier pierced Christ’s corpse with a lance. St John’s gospel says that this was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah, which spoke of great mourning and weeping over a pierced victim (Zechariah 12:10; John 19:33-37).