Donatello (Italian, Florence ca. 1386–1466 Florence), Lamentation Over the Dead Christ, ca. 1455–1460. Bronze, 12 5/8 × 16 7/16 × 2 1/2 in. (32.1 × 41.7 × 6.3 cm) Weight: 5.64 kg. Victoria and Albert Museum, London (8552-1863) © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

This extraordinary Lamentation group was probably made during Donatello’s stay in Siena from about 1455 to 1459. It may be associated with the set of bronze doors that he embarked on during those years, perhaps as a test piece; or it could have been created as an independent object meant to be attached to some kind of background, such as colored stone. The artist achieved the expressive force of this bronze through the figures’ emotional gestures but also by varying its levels of finish, so that some areas have been worked in detail while others remain barely suggested and are therefore left to the viewer’s imagination.

This work is exhibited in the “Unfinished: Thoughts Left Invisible” exhibition, on view through September 4th, 2016. #MetBreuer