The Thirteenth Station

Jesus Is Taken Down From The Cross

Here we see Jesus’ mother and one of the women from the twelfth station looking on the dead Jesus. There are two men in the background of this station and two different men in the fourteenth station. The men in the fourteenth station are probably Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, so we are unable to say who the men in this station are.

The normal practice was to leave the body of the victim on the cross as a warning and a deterrent to others unless the body was claimed by a close relative. Joseph was not a relative. He may have been granted permission because he was a wealthy and an important Jew, probably a member of the Sanhedrin.

The dedication at the bottom of the tableau is: