Man of Sorrows, a biblical term, is paramount among the prefigurations of theMessiah identified by the Bible in the passages ofIsaiah 53 (Servant songs) in theHebrew Bible. It is also an iconic devotional image that showsChrist, usually naked above the waist, with the wounds of hisPassion prominently displayed on his hands and side (the "ostentatio vulnerum", a feature of other standard types of image), often crowned with theCrown of Thorns and sometimes attended by angels. It developed in Europe from the 13th century and was especially popular inNorthern Europe.
The image continued to spread and develop iconographical complexity until well after theRenaissance, but the Man of Sorrows in its many artistic forms is the most precise visual expression of the piety of the laterMiddle Ages, which took its character from mystical contemplation rather than from theological speculation.[1] Together with thePietà, it was the most popular of theAndachtsbilder-type images of the period – devotional images detached from the narrative of Christ's Passion, intended for meditation.
The Latin termChristus dolens ("suffering Christ") is sometimes used for this depiction. ThePensive Christ is a similar depiction, and the usual composition of theMass of Saint Gregory includes a vision of theMan of Sorrows.
The phrase translated into English as "Man of Sorrows" ("אִישׁ מַכְאֹבוֹת",’îš maḵ’ōḇōṯ in theHebrew Bible,vir dolōrum in theVulgate) occurs at verse 3 (in Isaiah 53):
3) He is despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.4) Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.5) But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.
6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.[2]
The image developed from the Byzantineepitaphios image, which possibly dates back to the 8th century. A miraculous Byzantinemosaicicon of it is known as theImago Pietatis orChrist of Pity. The work appears to have been brought to the major pilgrimage church ofSanta Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome in the 12th century. Only replicas of the original work now survive. By the 13th century it was becoming common in the West as a devotional image for contemplation, in sculpture, painting and manuscripts. It continued to grow in popularity, helped by theJubilee Year of 1350, when the Roman image seems to have had, perhaps initially only for the Jubilee, a papalindulgence of 14,000 years granted for prayers said in its presence.[3]
The image formed part of the subject of theMass of Saint Gregory; by 1350 the Roman icon was being claimed as a contemporary representation of the vision.[5] In this image the figure of Christ was typical of the Byzantine forerunners of the Man of Sorrows, at half length, with crossed hands and head slumped sideways to the viewer's left.
The various versions of the Man of Sorrows image all show a Christ with the wounds of theCrucifixion, including the spear-wound. Especially in Germany, Christ's eyes are usually open and look out at the viewer; in Italy the closed eyes of the Byzantine epitaphios image, originally intended to show a dead Christ, remained for longer. For some the image represented the two natures of Christ – he was dead as a man, but alive as God.[6] Full-length figures also first appear in southern Germany in wall-paintings in the 13th century, and in sculpture from the beginning of the 14th.[7]
Other elements that were sometimes included, in distinct sub-forms of the image, included theArma Christi or "Instruments of the Passion", the cross, achalice into which blood poured from Christ's side or other wounds (giving an emphasis on theEucharist), angels to hold these objects or support a slumped Christ himself (Meister Francke shows both roles below), and mourners or worshippers.[8] TheThrone of Mercy is an image of theTrinity with Christ, often diminutive, as Man of Sorrows, supported by his Father.
Isaiah 53:2 had already been crucial in developing the iconography of theTree of Jesse: "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground".
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