chapter XXVII., verses 55-60.]

During all this time two at least of the original company of women had
lingered near while the body of Jesus was taken from the cross and
made ready for burial. They were the mother Mary and Mary Magdalene.
Even after Joseph's task was done and he had gone his way, they
remained "sitting over against the sepulchre."

It is not unnatural to suppose that they may have had some share in
the preparation of the body. Nicodemus, as we learn elsewhere, had
brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, which it was the custom of the
Jews to use in burial.[24] Both men must have been glad of the presence
and help of the faithful women.

[Footnote 24: St. John, chapter XIX., verse 39.]

Poets and painters have dwelt much on these sad moments, supplying
from the imagination the details omitted in the narrative. The women
must at times have been unable to restrain their tears; natural grief
must have its way. Then might the men have left them awhile alone with
their dead, as they busied themselves with their task.

It is some such idea as this which inspired the painting of our
illustration. The mother Mary supports the head of her son upon her
bosom; Mary Magdalene stoops to kiss the lifeless hand; St. John
approaches at one side with a mantle.

The body of Christ, wrapped in a cloth, has been laid upon a rock in a
cavern. The agony of his cruel death is past, and the face is calm as
of one who sleeps. The figure is, as we have seen it on the cross,
robust and well knit. Only the nail prints in hands and feet show the
manner of his dying. On the ground beside him is a basin with a
sponge, surrounded by tokens of the crucifixion, the crown of thorns,
the nails, and the superscription.

[Illustration: THE LAMENTATION OVER CHRIST
_Antwerp Museum_]

We see in the Madonna the same stately and beautiful woman who carried
her babe on the journey to Egypt. Her veil is now drawn well over her
head, entirely concealing her hair. She has borne the cares of life
with courage, and the years have touched her face but lightly. Even in
the hour of anguish she lifts her eyes to heaven with resignation, yet
one hand is extended with a gesture which seems to implore mercy.

Mary Magdalene is a much younger woman. She has peculiar reason for
her devotion to Jesus, for he saved her from a strange fate.[25] Her
impulsive and loving nature is now overwhelmed with grief. Her rich
costume is in disorder, and her hair fal