The Man of Sorrows

The object I have chosen for my object biography is The Man of Sorrows, a mid-fourteenth century painting by the Italian artist Roberto Oderisi. I began my search for an object by browsing the medieval exhibits at the Harvard Art Museums, seeing if anything there sufficiently intrigued me before I looked online at the museum’s entire collection. I was almost finished walking around when I spotted an unusually detailed and “busy” painting, at least in comparison to many of the other works I had seen at the museum. The primary subject is that of many other medieval paintings: Jesus on the crucifix, with his wounds prominently displayed. However, he is surrounded by a very large number of religious symbols, the so-called “Arma Christi.” I think it would be fascinating to research what each of these symbols mean, if each of their positions on the painting has any significance, and more (e.g. are the numbers on the dice arbitrary or is there a deeper meaning behind them?). Moreover, there are several figures and scenes in the painting that pose interesting questions. For instance, who is the man in the bottom-left corner of the painting, and why is he relegated to that area? Finally, I chose this object because it appears to have a story behind it. There seems to have been gold leaf removed from the top-right portion of the painting, which raises several questions as to why a valuable painting would be disfigured in such a way.

I intend to learn more about the painting by first browsing the references listed on the Harvard Art Museums’ website and searching online for information about the artist, the Arma Christi, and the Passion. I will additionally take a close look at the painting and attempt to decipher each of the symbols’ meanings as well as identify the figures and scenes. I may wish to look at similar Arma Christi depictions for more information.