Oliver Osborne at Union Pacific “The Lamentation over the Dead Christ is a painting made by Andrea Mantegna in 1480. At first glance it reads as a fairly literal rendition of a much-imagined scene – Christ peacefully lays on a marble slab, under a thin cloth as a tearful Virgin Mary, Saint John and St Mary Magdalene loom over. On closer viewing, and the reason why the painting sparks a befuddled hold over Oliver Osborne and art historians alike, is due to the stark foreshortening of Christ’s body: his midriff appears compressed while his head and feet seem proportionally erroneous. For Oliver’s exhibition, titled ‘Mantegna’s Dead Christ’, the recumbent Christ appears again, only this time as a spirit. Mantegna’s Dead Christ emerged after Oliver exposed an acetate rendition of Mantegna’s masterpiece on the roof of his house in summer – the faint lines of Christ sun-scorched onto a strip of packaging paper. It’s one of two pieces in the exhibition described by Oliver as ‘anchors’ – important markers which reverberate through the history of painting.” #art #artist #paint #painting #contemporary #contemporaryart #gallery #artgallery #emergent #emergentmagazine #oliverosborne #unionpacific