Veiled Christ


Veiled Christ is a carved marble tomb effigy completed in 1753 by the Neapolitan artist Giuseppe Sanmartino. It is formed from a single block of white marble and was commissioned by Raimondo di Sangro, a prince of Sansevero, as the centrepiece of the Cappella Sansevero, in Naples, Italy.
It is regarded as Sanmartino’s masterpiece, largely due to the rendering of the transparent veil, and thus considered one of the world's most remarkable sculptures. Due to its life-like representation of the body of Jesus and the illusionary and trompe-l'œil veil, the sculpture was thought by many to have been created via alchemy.
The 18th-century sculptor Antonio Canova tried to acquire the work, stating that he would willingly give ten years of his life to have produced something of similar quality.

History and description

Seeking to develop his reconstruction of the Cappella Sansevero, the Italian nobleman Raimondo di Sangro commissioned the sculptor Antonio Corradini to produce a realistic, life-sized marble tomb effigy of Jesus covered by a shroud. Corradini produced a to-scale terracotta bozzetto model, now in the Museo Nazionale di San Martino, but died shortly after.
The commission passed to the then young Italian sculptor Giuseppe Sanmartino, who was charged with producing "a marble statue sculpted with the greatest realism, representing Our Lord Jesus Christ in death, covered by a transparent shroud carved from the same block of stone as the statue."
Abandoning Corradini's earlier model, Sanmartino produced a sculpture with the dead Jesus lying on a couch, covered by a veil which adheres perfectly to his form. The mastery of the Neapolitan sculptor lies in his successful depiction, looking through the veil, of the suffering that Jesus had undergone during the crucifixion. Signs of Jesus's pain can be seen on his face and body. The sculpture became highly praised, and helped launch Sanmartino's career.
Shaping further detail into the marble block, Sanmartino placed depictions of the instruments of the passion at Jesus's feet, including pliers, shackles, and the crown of thorns.