Lamentation of Christ

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Gordon Napier

The placement of the nails is an issue of pedantic debatable. The Bible does state that Jesus's wounds were in his hand, and not wrist (John 20: 25-6). The hands and feet could have taken the weight especially if there was a slight step under the heels. Old depictions of the crucifixion always showed the wounds in the palms, and these images started to be created not that long after the method of execution was phased out in the Roman Empire. (The practice, which probably originated in Persia, apparently went on in the middle east at least until medieval times. Zenghi, the Muslim ruler of Aleppo, for example, is said to have crucified the Muslim garrison of Baalbeck who resisted his domination of Syria). So there is every reason to think medieval Christian artists knew what a crucifixion looked like.

The Roman Empire did crucify those who defied it. As bad as the suffering of the crucified must have been that of their loved ones bearing witness. The image of Jesus' kith and kin dealing with his body after his deposition from the Cross still has power to move. It maybe the contrast of their tenderness with the evidence of savage execution.