"The Dead Christ Mourned"

The painting shows the dead body of Christ laid out in a white loincloth, with his legs on a white shroud and his head resting in the lap of his mother, the Virgin Mary, in her characteristic blue robe; overcome with emotion, she has fainted. The mother and son are accompanied by three other figures. Mary Magdalene, with red hair, is kneeling to the right, wearing a red robe and elaborately embroidered yellow cloak, with her hands raised in anguish. They are accompanied by an older woman, standing in a dark green robe to the rear, reaching out towards a younger woman in green, blue and red who is kneeling behind the Virgin Mary to support her. Behind the group is the dark entrance to Christ's tomb, and some trees. The three background figures have slim gold haloes, but Christ and the Virgin do not. 

Carracci (1560–1609) painted many scenes of the pietà in his artistic career from around 1580 to around 1605. This version, dated to c. 1604, is thought to be one of the latest. In it Carracci has combined elements of three gospel accounts in one scene: the lamentation over the dead Christ, his entombment, and the discovery of the empty tomb by the Three Marys. The two other women accompanying Christ, the Virgin and the Magdalene cannot easily be identified, but they may be Mary Cleophas and Mary Salome, who are included in some gospel accounts among the women at the crucifixion, and who were also present at the empty tomb with the Virgin Mary.

The composition uses strong diagonals to guide the viewer around the emotional scene, from the triple diagonal of Christ's bare body, through his mother in cool blues to the warmer tones of the young woman supporting her. The pallor and posture of the unconscious Virgin, her head thrown back with right arm extended, echo those of her son. Behind her, the young woman is looking across at the older woman, who looks back with arms outstretched, forming a second diagonal with the brightly clothed Mary Magdalene, whose gaze is also directed back towards the dead body of Christ.