Wood, 380x235 cm + frame 10 cm, Inv. n. 137

Bertucci was born in Faenza in 1502 to a family of artists: his father Giovan Battista il Vecchio and uncle Girolamo Bertucci were the first to train him as an artist. In 1520 Bertucci was living in Rome, then between 1534 and 1539 he received his first commissions in Faenza and, between 1540 and 1543, he decorated the cupola of San Vitale in Ravenna.
This work was produced for the Church of St. Rocco in Faenza. In 1539 the confraternity of San Rocco contracted him to create a painting depicting the life of their saint, which Bertucci was very late in completing and hence was cited. An agreement as reached, according to which the artist would have been able to select the subject he preferred. As a result, the work was completed between 1552 and 1553.
In a setting of hillsides, at the foot of the cross we are given a glimpse, with the deposition of the body of Christ born by two bearers onto a white cloth, while all around the Apostles and pious women are expressing their despair and supporting the Madonna, who has fainted. There are St. John and another of the apostles arriving on the left.