Cano lived in Madrid on two different occasions. The first (1638-1651), during which he was able to study the Royal Collection, absolutely transformed his concept of color and brushstrokes. Contact with Flemish and Italian painting, as well as his friendship with Velázquez, were determinant in that radical change. The present Dead Christ Supported by an Angel belongs to the end of that stay and clearly exemplifies the degree of refinement he attained.

This work’s singular iconography does not stem from the Gospels, but from the so-called Christ of Saint Gregory, an Oriental icon that represented that pope’s vision of the dead Christ flanked by two angels. According to tradition, praying before that image earned Indulgences for the dead. During the Renaissance, this funerary image gained strength as an alternative to the Holy Burial or the Pietà- one that included the supernatural presence of angels as yet another indication of Jesus’ divinity. Cano created a personal prototype in which a single angel holds the dead body and shows it to the viewer. To do so, the artist employed a customary practice of his time, drawing on various engravings. He seems to have combined a print by Hendrick Goltzius after a model by Bartolomeus Spranger with another by an unknown author that was later copied by Italian artist Giuseppe Diamantini. Thus, he obtained an original iconographic prototype by reworking earlier graphic sources. One of Cano’s first biographers, Antonio Palomino, already mentions this process of recycling as the basis for his rich repertoire.

The results are stunning, not only because there is barely any visible trace of the antecedents, but also because of the composition’s balance and the exquisite overall color. The subtle suggestion of a crepuscular landscape surrounds the group, in which the warm tones of the angel contrast with the bluish cold of Christ’s lifeless body. This subject offered the painter an excellent opportunity to depict a male nude. The elegant treatment of the body, its softness and stylized forms are the most characteristic achievements of Cano’s painting, and his relation to nudes makes him exceptional in Siglo de Oro painting.

The image transmits a serenity that is not at all common in a subject that lends itself to pathos and pain. Cano offers a contained vision of the tragedy of death in keeping with the piety practiced by the courtly elite. It has been suggested that this painting reflects Jesuit practices or that it may even have Eucharistic connotations. All that is certain is that it must have been made for a private client. It is first documented in the collection of the Marquis of La Ensenada in the 18th century. From there, it was acquired by King Charles III in 1769, and subsequently became a part of Spain’s Royal Collections, from which it entered the Museo del Prado. It must have been quite successful in its time, as there are known copies and versions, including one at the Museo del Prado (P2637). Period documentation also mentions others in private collections in Madrid, including one that belonged to José de Lezama.

El Prado en el Hermitage, Museo Estatal del Hermitage: Museo del Prado, 2011, p.144-145