The Pensive Christ ( – 'Christ in Distress' or ''Christus in der Rast''; – 'Worried Christ'; ) is a subject in Christian

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

depicting a contemplating

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, sitting with his head supported by his hand with the

Crown of Thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or ) was placed on the head of Jesus during the Passion of Jesus, events leading up to his crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion. It was one of the Arma Christi, instruments of the Passion, e ...

and marks of his flagellation. It is, therefore, a picture of Jesus shortly before his

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

, although more an andachtsbild or devotional subject than intended to show an actual moment in the narrative of the

Passion of Christ The Passion (from latin language, Latin , "to suffer, bear, endure") is the short final period before the death of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, described in the four canonical gospels. It is commemorated in Christianity every year during Holy ...

. The Pensive Christ is much more common in sculpture than in painting, where the similar

Man of Sorrows Man of Sorrows, a biblical term, is paramount among the prefigurations of the Messiah identified by the Bible in the passages of Isaiah 53 ('' Servant songs'') in the Hebrew Bible. It is also an iconic devotional image that shows Christ, usual ...

is more often depicted (in this Jesus is shown with the wounds of the crucifixion).

Development of the image

The first known depictions of the Pensive Christ occur in northern German sculptures from the latter half of the 14th century, taking a pose already found in paintings of the preparations for the crucifixion, where Jesus sits in thought as the soldiers work to raise the cross. Before this, the pose had been used for the figure of ''

Job Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...

in Distress'', according to

typology A typology is a system of classification used to organize things according to similar or dissimilar characteristics. Groups of things within a typology are known as "types". Typologies are distinct from taxonomies in that they primarily address t ...

one of the prefigurements of Christ. Art historians link its appearance with the

Devotio Moderna Devotio Moderna (Latin; lit., Modern Devotion) was a movement for religious reform, calling for apostolic renewal through the rediscovery of genuine pious practices such as humility, obedience, simplicity of life, and integration into the communit ...

(Latin for "modern devotion"), which stressed the human nature of Jesus, a model for the faithful to follow. Most of the statues of the Pensive Christ were made around 1500 and in the first quarter of the 16th century, on the eve of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. Most of them are preserved in the area of northwest

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

and

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, which were strongly affected by the

. Christ is depicted at a specific moment of his earthly suffering, when he rests while dragging the cross on the way to Golgotha. He is thus presented to the believer in his human nature and invites him to contemplation. The image became especially popular in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

and

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

, and then Poland and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, where it became strongly entrenched in folk art wood carvings by '' Dievdirbiai'' (Lithuanian folk carvers; example below). A related image, the ''Herrgottsruh'' ("Repose of the Lord" in German), does not have the chin resting on a hand; Christ sits, often with hands crossed in his lap. This appeared in Italian painting at the end of the 14th century, and soon spread to sculpture in southern Germany and Austria.Schiller, 73

Gallery

File:Albrecht Dürer 043.jpg,

, in his traditional pose, by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

File:St-Lothain10.JPG, 16th century sculpture from the Jura (France) File:Sitting Jesus tottem.jpg, Roadside shrine with a Pensive Christ in Lithuania

In Germany

File:Albrecht Dürer 043.jpg,

, in his traditional pose, by

File:Odpočívající Kristus ze Seebergu (kolem r. 1509).jpg,

Pensive Christ of Seeberg The Pensive Christ of Seeberg with a donor from the Zedtwitz family (around 1509) is one of four statues of the same subject in the Cheb collections. The author was probably the anonymous Master of the Madonna of Kamenná Street, whose large carvi ...

(around 1509) File:Hildesheim Kreuzkirche Christus im Elend.jpg, German Herrgottsruh File:Görlitz (Zgorzelec) Kościół Świętej Trójcy (Dreifaltigkeitskirche) Chrystus Frasobliwy.JPG, Statue of a Pensive Christ, Dreifaltigkeitskirche, Görlitz, Germany

In Poland

File:Chrystus Frasobliwy kapliczka przydrozna Kurowice r.1997.jpg, Roadside shrine with a Pensive Christ in Kurowice, Poland File:Chrystus frasobliwy w Szydłowcu.JPG, "Pensive Christ" (''Chrystus Frasobliwy'') at

St Sigismund's Church, Szydlowiec Saint Sigismund's Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Szydłowiec, Poland. It was built towards the close of the Gothic period (the church constitutive act is dated 1 January 1401) and is an example of the late-Gothic hall church. History ...

, Poland File:Muzeum Regionalne PTTK w Gorlicach 077.JPG, Chrystus Frasobliwy, 16th c, Muzeum Regionalne PTTK, Gorlice (Poland) File:Ethnographic skansen in Gosławice - 04.jpg, Chrystus Frasobliwy, ethnographic skansen, Gosławice (Poland)

Notes

References

* Schiller, Gertrud; ''Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. II'',1972 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London,

External links

*Photographs of folk figurines of Pensive Christ in

(in

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

) http://www.tradicija.lt/Siuzetai/BA_Rupintojeliai_a.en.htm {{commons category, Pensive Christ Iconography of Jesus Lithuanian folk art National symbols of Lithuania Passion of Jesus in art by theme Flagellation of Christ Crown of thorns