The Descent or Deposition of the Cross, Italy, 16th c.

Oil on a poplar panel (panel and frame are the same) representing the Descent from the Cross.
Very familiar iconographic theme concerning Jesus after the Crucifixion.
If the Gospels, after his death, expand on his burial by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, they say nothing about the descent of his body from the cross.
Here, we can even speak of a Pietà showing Mary holding the dead Jesus in her arms, a Déploration or Lamentations on the dead Christ.
The descent from the Cross takes place on the evening of the Crucifixion. The body is wrapped in a shroud and taken to Golgotha.
The number of people present remains unknown, but the presence of Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and of course Mary is not in doubt. According to the artists, the apostle John, Mary Magdalene, a group of women accompanying Mary and her sisters, servants, a crowd of the faithful, and the two thieves are represented.
Two turbaned figures holding nails and a hammer are seen in the left background, and one of the angels is probably carrying the Chalice that received the blood of Christ.
Italy, Tuscany, 16th c.