halo and a loincloth. Yet there are other elements that are different. Nicodemus is pulling

off the nail from the foot of Christ, not the hand. And finally, in the last third of the 11Ith

century, an artist coming from the tradition of the sculptures of Moissac and Souillac

created a number of relief sculptures in the cloister of the monastery of Santo Domingo

de Silos among which is the Deposition of Christ (Fig. 56).179 In terms of iconography

there are many similarities between this scene, and the Deposition of the Cycle of the Life

and Pa~ssion of Christ. Christ is wearing a cross halo and a loincloth and He is deposed by

Joseph holding His body while Nicodemus removes the nail from the left hand of Christ.

The positions of St. John and Nicodemus, who are on the right of Christ, have been

reversed in the Bible ofAvila. St. John is now farther away from Christ and Nicodemus

closer. On the left, the Virgin Mary gently hugs the arm of Christ. The Virgin Mary

covers her hair with a veil, while the three men have long hair with a beard, similar to

those in the Bible ofAvila. In the sculpture in Santo Domingo de Silos there are

additional figures above the cross, namely angles holding shrouds.

 In terms of style the example that has a small likeness to the Bible ofAvila' s

Deposition is the ivory relief panel from a reliquary in San Isidoro of Leon. This example

only shows Christ as the largest figure, and the Virgin Mary holds Christ' s arm

downward. A second example is the relief sculpture of the Deposition in the monastery of

Santo Domingo de Silos that has a number of similarities to the correlating scene of the

Deposition in the Bible ofAvila. This example has the same linear quality, but the soft

round edges are now gone. Nevertheless, the figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary have

been elongated as in the Bible ofAvila. Christ' s ribcage has also been carefully incised.


179 Palacios, Mariano, Joaquin Yarza Luaces, y Rafael Torres, El~ona~sterio de Santo
Domingo de Silos, 7a Ed., Madrid: Editorial Everest, S.A., 1989, p. 19.