The Deposition by Graham Sutherland
Matthew 27 57-61, Mark 1542-47, Luke 2350-54, John 1938-42
The part played by Joseph of Arimathea following the crucifixion of Jesus appears in all four gospels, with only minor differences. He is described, variously, as ‘a rich man’ (Matthew); ‘a respected member of the council’ who was looking forward to the kingdom of God (Mark); ‘a good and righteous man’ who, while he was a member of the council, had not agreed with the plan to do away with Jesus; and John points out that because of his fear of the Jews, Joseph was a ‘secret disciple’ of Jesus.
In John’s account we read that Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus under cover of darkness and who was clearly now even more wary of being recognised as one of his followers, accompanied Joseph as together they collected the body of Jesus. They anointed it with spices such as aloes and myrrh and wrapped it in the linen cloth, giving the body the full care appropriate for a Jew, before laying Jesus in a brand new tomb. In this version, the tomb is in the garden of the place where the crucifixion had taken place, whereas in the synoptic gospels it is described as Joseph’s own unused tomb.
In Sutherland’s oil painting, the body of Jesus is mutilated and broken, but still appears too large to fit in the tomb, suggesting that death could not contain him. The linen winding sheet, or shroud, in which Jesus will be wrapped, follows the shape of his body and bears more than a passing resemblance to the linen draped beneath the body of Christ in Caravaggio’s Deposition, painted in the early 17th century. In this work by Sutherland, the sheet hangs rather like a hammock below Christ’s body and the tomb appears to be surprisingly insubstantial. Although we can only see the front of the tomb, it looks as though the box-like structure is hexagonal or octagonal, either of which would be a strange shape for a tomb. There is certainly no suggestion in this painting that the tomb is hewn out of rock, and maybe the hint of a temporary structure suggests that the place of death will soon became the arena for resurrection.
The idea of a high-ranking member of the Jewish council taking down the dead body, removing it to a safer place and preparing it for a dignified burial is deeply moving. Dealing with dead bodies, particularly one that has suffered such torture, is horrible and grotesque, and yet this grief-stricken man treats the mutilated body of Jesus with love, respect and tenderness.