![Vittore Carpaccio - The Meditation on the Passion [c.1490] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7442/12430584064_2904957a48.jpg)
This extraordinary work by Carpaccio (Italian, Venice 1460/66 - Venice, 1525/26) is a landmark in the history of devotional images. It is, in effect, a meditation on the theme of Death and Resurrection. To the right, the Old Testament figure Job sits on a block inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew, while on the left, portrayed as a hermit, is Saint Jerome, who wrote a commentary on the book of Job. Christ’s dead body is displayed on a broken throne, also inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew. A bird, symbol of the soul, flies upwards. The landscape, barren on the left and pastoral on the right, alludes to the contrasting themes of life and death, as do the animals that inhabit it. The turbaned figures in the background would have been familiar to Venetians through their trade with the Middle East and Egypt.
[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil and tempera on wood, 66.5 x 84.5 cm]