{{Short description|Biblical term and image in Christian art}} {{Other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} [[File:Meister Francke 003.jpg|thumb|[[Master Francke|Meister Francke]]: ''Man of sorrows, with angels'', c. 1430]] [[File:Man of Sorrows - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|German [[woodcut]] with hand-colouring, 1465–70]] '''Man of Sorrows''', a biblical term, is paramount among the prefigurations of the [[Messiah]] identified by the Bible in the passages of [[Isaiah 53]] (''[[Servant songs]]'') in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. It is also an iconic devotional image that shows [[Christ]], usually naked above the waist, with the wounds of his [[Passion of Jesus|Passion]] prominently displayed on his hands and side (the "[[Five Holy Wounds#In art|ostentatio vulnerum]]", a feature of other standard types of image), often crowned with the [[Crown of Thorns]] and sometimes attended by angels. It developed in Europe from the 13th century and was especially popular in [[Northern Europe]].

The image continued to spread and develop iconographical complexity until well after the [[Renaissance]], but the Man of Sorrows in its many artistic forms is the most precise visual expression of the piety of the later [[Middle Ages]], which took its character from mystical contemplation rather than from theological speculation.<ref>Schiller, quote from p. 198, figs. 681–812</ref> Together with the ''[[Pietà]]'', it was the most popular of the [[Andachtsbilder]]-type images of the period – devotional images detached from the narrative of Christ's Passion, intended for meditation.

The Latin term ''Christus dolens'' ("suffering Christ") is sometimes used for this depiction. The ''[[Pensive Christ]]'' is a similar depiction, and the usual composition of the ''[[Mass of Saint Gregory]]'' includes a vision of the ''Man of Sorrows''.

== Biblical narrative == The phrase translated into English as "Man of Sorrows" ("{{Script/Hebrew|אִישׁ מַכְאֹבוֹת}}", ''’îš maḵ’ōḇōṯ'' in the [[Hebrew Bible]], ''vir dolōrum'' in the [[Vulgate]]) occurs at verse 3 (in Isaiah 53): <blockquote> 3) He is despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4) Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5) But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. 6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=29&chapter=53&version=48 |title=21st Century King James Version |work=Biblegateway.com |date= |accessdate=22 April 2014}}</ref></blockquote>

==Development of the image== The image developed from the Byzantine [[Epitaphios (liturgical)|epitaphios]] image, which possibly dates back to the 8th century. A miraculous Byzantine [[mosaic]] [[icon]] of it is known as the '''''Imago Pietatis''''' or ''Christ of Pity''. The work appears to have been brought to the major pilgrimage church of [[Santa Croce in Gerusalemme]] in Rome in the 12th century. Only replicas of the original work now survive. By the 13th century it was becoming common in the West as a devotional image for contemplation, in sculpture, painting and manuscripts. It continued to grow in popularity, helped by the [[Jubilee (Christianity)|Jubilee Year]] of 1350, when the Roman image seems to have had, perhaps initially only for the Jubilee, a papal [[indulgence]] of 14,000 years granted for prayers said in its presence.<ref>Schiller, 199–200, also see Parshall, 58 and Pattison, 150.</ref>

[[File:Geertgen Man van smarten.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Man of Sorrows (Geertgen tot Sint Jans)|Man of Sorrows]]'' (c. 1485–95), an especially complex version by [[Geertgen tot Sint Jans]], Dutch, 25 × 24 cm<ref>Discussed by Snyder, 176–78</ref>]]

The image formed part of the subject of the [[Mass of Saint Gregory]]; by 1350 the Roman icon was being claimed as a contemporary representation of the vision.<ref>Parshall, 58. For a somewhat different chronology, see Pattison, 150</ref> In this image the figure of Christ was typical of the Byzantine forerunners of the Man of Sorrows, at half length, with crossed hands and head slumped sideways to the viewer's left.

The various versions of the Man of Sorrows image all show a Christ with the wounds of the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Crucifixion]], including the spear-wound. Especially in Germany, Christ's eyes are usually open and look out at the viewer; in Italy the closed eyes of the Byzantine epitaphios image, originally intended to show a dead Christ, remained for longer. For some the image represented the two natures of Christ – he was dead as a man, but alive as God.<ref>Schiller, 198</ref> Full-length figures also first appear in southern Germany in wall-paintings in the 13th century, and in sculpture from the beginning of the 14th.<ref>Schiller, 201–202</ref>

Other elements that were sometimes included, in distinct sub-forms of the image, included the ''[[Arma Christi]]'' or "Instruments of the Passion", the cross, a [[chalice (cup)|chalice]] into which blood poured from Christ's side or other wounds (giving an emphasis on the [[Eucharist]]), angels to hold these objects or support a slumped Christ himself ([[Master Francke|Meister Francke]] shows both roles below), and mourners or worshippers.<ref>Schiller, 201–219</ref> The ''[[Throne of Mercy]]'' is an image of the [[Trinity]] with Christ, often diminutive, as Man of Sorrows, supported by his Father.

Isaiah 53:2 had already been crucial in developing the iconography of the [[Tree of Jesse]]: "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground".

==Artworks with articles== *[[The Man of Sorrows from the New Town Hall in Prague]], wood sculpture, c. 1410 *[[Petrus Christus]], ''[[Man of Sorrows (Christus)|Christ as the Man of Sorrows]]'', c. 1450. [[Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery]], England *[[Giovanni Bellini]] and others, [[Triptych of the Madonna]], 1464–1470, now Venice *[[Geertgen tot Sint Jans]], ''[[Man of Sorrows (Geertgen tot Sint Jans)|Man of Sorrows]]'', c. 1485–1495, now [[Utrecht]] *[[Sandro Botticelli]], ''[[The Man of Sorrows (Botticelli)|The Man of Sorrows]]'', c. 1500–1510 *[[Maarten van Heemskerck]], ''[[Man of Sorrows (Maarten van Heemskerck)|Man of Sorrows]]'', 1532 *[[James Ensor]], ''[[The Man of Sorrows (Ensor)|The Man of Sorrows]]'', 1891

==Gallery== <gallery widths="154" heights="200" caption="Man of Sorrows"> File:De Grey Hours f.203.v Christ as the Man of Sorrows.png|14th-century depiction of the Man of Sorrows File:Meister Francke 004.jpg|[[Master Francke]], ''Man of Sorrows, with the [[Arma Christi]] and Angels'', c. 1430, [[Museum der bildenden Künste]], [[Leipzig]] File:Petrus christus, cristo dolente.jpg|[[Petrus Christus]], ''[[Man of Sorrows (Christus)|Christ as the Man of Sorrows]]'', c. 1450<ref name="AN">Stewart, Camilla. "[https://artuk.org/discover/stories/petrus-christus-christ-as-the-man-of-sorrows Petrus Christus' 'Christ as the Man of Sorrows']". [[Art UK]], 15 August 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2025</ref> File:Dirk Bouts Christ Crowned With Thorns.jpg|[[Dieric Bouts]]: ''Christ Crowned with Thorns'', c. 1470<ref>"[https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/dirk-bouts-christ-crowned-with-thorns Christ Crowned with Thorns: Dirk Bouts]". [[National Gallery]], London. Retrieved 26 September 2025</ref> File:Albrecht Dürer - Christ as the Man of Sorrows - WGA06911.jpg|[[Albrecht Dürer]], ''The Man of Sorrows'', 1493 File:05-Cranach1.jpg|[[Lucas Cranach the Elder]], ''Christ as the Man of Sorrows'' File:After Lucas van Leyden 001.jpg|After [[Lucas van Leyden]], ''Man of Sorrows'' File:Donatello, Imago Pietatis, 1449-50, Sant'Antonio, Padua.jpg|[[Donatello]], ''Imago Pietatis'', 1449–50, bronze relief from the high altar of the [[Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua|Basilica of Saint Anthony]] in [[Padua]] File:Ensor, De man van smarten, 1891.jpg|[[James Ensor]], ''[[The Man of Sorrows (Ensor)|The Man of Sorrows]],'' 1891 </gallery>

==See also== *[[Messiah (Handel)|''Messiah'' (Handel)]], which sets a version of the passage from Isaiah *[[Our Lady of Sorrows]]

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== {{Commons category|Man of Sorrows}} * {{cite journal |last=Ballester |first=Jordi |title=Trumpets, Heralds and Minstrels: Their Relation to the Image of Power and Representation in the Fourteenth- and Fifteenth-Century Catalano-Aragonese Painting |journal=Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography |volume=43 |issue=1–2 |date=2018 |pages=5–19 |issn=1522-7464 }} *Parshall, Peter, in David Landau & Peter Parshall, ''The Renaissance Print'', Yale, 1996, {{ISBN|0-300-06883-2}} *Pattison George, in W. J. Hankey, Douglas Hedley (eds), ''Deconstructing radical orthodoxy: postmodern theology, rhetoric, and truth'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2005, {{ISBN|0-7546-5398-6}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7546-5398-1}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=eFDtL8PpkHcC&pg=PA150 Google books] *G. Schiller, ''Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. II'', 1972 (English translation from German), Lund Humphries, London, figs. 471–75, {{ISBN|0-85331-324-5}} *[[James Snyder (art historian)|Snyder, James]]; ''Northern Renaissance Art'', 1985, Harry N. Abrams, {{ISBN|0-13-623596-4}} {{Book of Isaiah}} {{Authority control}}

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