By Eugenio Amézquita Velasco
The prominent Moroccan visual artist El Amrani Hachimi stands out for his unique style and for creating religious paintings and sacred art in the purest North African tradition. One of his notable works is the representation of Christ, newly descended from the cross and placed in the lap of his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, with his body accompanied by his disciples.
From a strictly historical-artistic perspective, this painting is situated in the transition between the Descent from the Cross and the Holy Burial, formally classified as a Lamentation over the Dead Christ or Planto (Lament).
In El Amrani's approach, Jesus's body rests directly upon the sepulchral stone and the Holy Shroud. Although the Virgin Mary occupies the central emotional role as she caresses her son's face, the scene is transformed into a choral composition thanks to the presence of other biblical figures: Saint John the Apostle—dressed in green, observing with resignation—and figures representing Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus alongside the imposing structure of the wooden cross.
Composition, light, and anatomy
The work demonstrates a rigorous mastery of the classical figurative canon, structured within a remarkably clean visual narrative:
-Absolute focal point: Christ's body acts as the luminous axis of the painting. By utilizing an ivory and pale hue, the artist immediately draws the viewer's gaze toward the central figure. The anatomy is rendered softly, avoiding exaggerated muscular drama to favor a serene and dignified death.
-The use of mystical light: There is a marked luminous contrast—a soft chiaroscuro. In the upper left corner, a break in the cloudy sky releases golden rays of divine light. This illumination not only adds depth and a dramatic atmosphere to the background landscape, but also justifies the light bathing Jesus's body and the sorrowful face of the Virgin.
-Geometric structure: The heavy wooden cross on the right flank stabilizes the composition vertically, while the descending diagonal formed by the faces of the onlookers rhythmically directs attention toward the ground.
Color palette and pictorial technique
The handling of color on this canvas is vibrant and laden with theological symbolism:
-Marian Blue: The Virgin wears the traditional deep blue cloak, a color historically associated with divinity, purity, and heaven in sacred art.
-Green and Terracotta: The garments of the secondary characters balance the composition. The green—representing the hope and youth of John—and the terracotta orange of the character on the right generate a harmonious contrast that frames the cool, pale tones of the center.
-Glazing technique (Veladuras): True to his style, the painting features no impasto or coarse brushstrokes. The paint is perceived as applied through thin, superimposed layers of oil. This provides the fabrics with a smooth, satin finish and allows the transitions of shadows on the faces to be exceptionally subtle and clean, eliminating any trace of graininess.
Intercultural dialogue: The frame as a signature
One of the deepest and most avant-garde aspects of this piece does not occur within the canvas, but on its borders. As a Moroccan master artist and craftsman, El Amrani Hachimi performs an extraordinary exercise in cultural syncretism:
The painting is crowned at its corners and edges by fine metalwork and Islamic geometric patterns (lacería or zellige).
This decorative architectural detail from the North African tradition embraces and frames a scene of Western Catholic devotion. The frame ceases to be a passive container and becomes an artistic statement: proof that spirituality and art are universal languages capable of coexisting in perfect harmony.
Why is this scene called a Planto?
The scene of the Planto —also formally known in art history as the Lamentation over the Dead Christ or the Weeping over the Dead Christ—is one of the most emotional and recurrent iconographic themes in medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Christian art.
What is the Planto scene? It is the visual passage that recreates the moment of mourning and immense grief immediately following the Descent from the Cross and just before the Holy Burial.
Chronologically, the action is still set on Mount Calvary. The lifeless body of Jesus has already been lowered from the cross and lies placed on the ground, whether on the Holy Shroud, a stone slab, or directly on his mother's lap, surrounded by the group of people who stayed with him until the end.
Unlike La Piedad -The Pieta, which is an intimate scene featuring exclusively the Virgin Mary and Jesus- the Planto is a choral (collective) scene where several biblical characters participate, expressing their grief in different ways:
-The Virgin Mary: Afflicted, caressing or holding her son's torso.
-Mary Magdalene: Traditionally kneeling at the feet of Christ, weeping more effusively or kissing his wounds.
-Saint John the Evangelist: Holding the Virgin or looking at the body with deep sadness.
-The holy women -the other Marys-, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus: As witnesses to the mourning and those tasked with preparing the body for the sepulcher.
The term "Planto" has a strictly literary and etymological origin linked to the expression of physical and emotional pain. The word originates from the Latin planctus, which means weeping, lamentation, groaning, or the act of striking one's chest as a sign of mourning. From this, the word "llanto" (weeping) in modern Spanish directly derives.
In the literature of the Middle Ages—from the 11th to the 14th centuries—a "planto" was a poetic composition or a funeral dirge of a lyrical nature (an elegy). It was written to mourn the death of a king, a nobleman, or a religious figure. The most famous of the era were the "Plantos de la Virgen" (Laments of the Virgin), dramatic poems that put into words the grief Mary felt upon seeing her son die.
When visual artists of the Renaissance—such as Giotto or Fra Angelico—began to paint this scene with a heavy emphasis on the psychology of human suffering, the discipline of art history adopted the name of the literary genre— planctus / planto —to classify these works, as the painting visually accomplished the same as the poem: mourning the death of Christ.
In summary, it is called so because the central axis of the work is not the crucifixion itself nor the burial, but the pure act of lamenting, weeping, and expressing grief over the loss—in this case, of Christ.
The planto "Duelo que fizo la Virgen María el día de la Pasión de su Fijo Jesu Christo"
One of the most celebrated, moving, and foundational examples in Spanish literature is the "Duelo que fizo la Virgen María el día de la Pasión de su Fijo Jesu Christo" (The Mourning of the Virgin Mary on the Day of the Passion of Her Son Jesus Christ), written by the medieval cleric and poet Gonzalo de Berceo in the 13th century (belonging to the Mester de Clerecía).
In this text, Berceo personifies the Virgin's sorrow at the foot of the cross, expressing her agony in a deeply lyrical Old Spanish.
Fragment of the Planto de la Virgen (Gonzalo de Berceo)
"¡Ay, Fijo, dulzor de mi alma, fío de bendición!
¿Por qué eres llagado con tanta cruelzón?
¡Ay, miembros tan hermosos, de tanta perfección,
cómo yacedes muertos en esta pasión!
¡Ay, ojos que solían dar luz a mi vivir,
hoy os veo cerrados, cansados de sufrir.
¡Ay, manos que supieron al mundo redimir,
clavadas en el leño os veo consumir!"
(Note: Text subtly adapted to comprehensible Spanish, maintaining the rhyme and structure of the medieval lament).
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