The conservation of this painting has been generously sponsored by Kathryn Ploss.

In 1709, Antonio Biondini del fu Andrea, a soap maker originally from Trento, bequeathed the painting to the Serenissima Repubblica. In his will, Biondini specified that “this painting by Paris Bordon, a highly esteemed painter,” should be placed in the room of the Capi of the Council of Ten, on the wall directly in front of their seats. The canvas remained in that room until at least 1778-1783, when it was restored. In 1808, Pietro Edwards selected it for the Museo di Belle Arti in Venice; however, it ended up in the Palazzo Reale, where it stayed until 1847. By 1900, it was adorning the Cappella del Doge.

Some believe that Bordon painted this canvas for the Canececchi family in Treviso, where in 1648 Marco Boschini described seeing “a dead Christ with two angels holding him.” However, it should be noted that Bordon’s composition was quite popular, and at least two replicas by his assistants are known to exist: one formerly in the Gaggia Collection in Venice, and another at the Moravská Galerie in Brno dating to c. 1545-1555. Although the painting’s original provenance remains uncertain, its authorship is confirmed by Bordon’s body of work. Notably, his Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan, created between 1548 and 1551 and housed at the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, and the Sleeping Venus at the Galleria Borghese in Rome, dated to the late 1550s, provide strong stylistic parallels. This comparative analysis implies a dating for the Deposed Christ Supported by Angels in the 1550s.

Nearly a century later, Bordon’s painting inspired the French artist Nicolas Poussin, who adapted both its composition and the Christ’s pose for his Echo and Narcissus, painted between 1627-1628 and currently at the Louvre Museum, Paris.

The paint layer’s tones have been notably darkened and broadly yellowed due to surface deposits and a thick varnish layer, giving the entire painting a pronounced brownish tint. Furthermore, visual inspection shows that the painting suffers from abrasion and some lifting and crackling. The gilded wooden frame is in fair condition overall, though there are visible gaps in both the preparation and gilding, particularly along the edges where adhesion defects are most pronounced. The gilding, which includes inpainting from previous restorations, appears darkened.

Paris Bordon (1500 – 1571)
Deposed Christ Supported by Angels
1550s, oil on canvas
80 x 225 cm
Palazzo Ducale

Donati, Andrea. Paris Bordone. Catalogo generale. Cremona: Edizioni dei Soncino, 2014

Canova, Giordana. Paris Bordon. Venice: Edizioni Alfieri, 1964

Paris Bordon. Milan: Electa Editrice, 1984