Bidspirit auction | Christ on the Cold Stone.

Christ on the Cold Stone. Portuguese School. 18th Century - Carved and polychromed wood. Measurements: 20 x 8 x 8 cm. Devotional sculpture portraying Christ in the iconography known as “Christ on the Cold Stone” or “Christ of Contemplation, ” seated after the flagellation with His face resting on one hand in a gesture of meditative sorrow. The modeling emphasizes bodily drama, with a pronounced ribcage and abundant carved and painted streams of blood across the surface. His downcast gaze and furrowed brow heighten the emotional weight. The figure wears a crown of thorns and holds a reed, symbolizing mockery of kingship, underscoring His identity as the patient and suffering Christ. Though popular in execution, the sculpture exhibits great expressive power, in keeping with 18th-century Luso-Portuguese sculptural traditions that emphasized Christ’s humanity and capacity to evoke empathy. This type of figure, often placed in chapels or domestic shrines, was intended to inspire compassion through a sorrowful yet intimate depiction of the Redeemer.