There are two sculptures of Christ in the dungeon in the museum’s collection. Such works are also called “Midnight Savior”, “Suffering Christ” and “True Christ”. These human-scale sculptures were intended for temples: they were installed in special anconas or separate chapels.

The iconography (the accepted way of depicting) of Christ in the dungeon was based on an apocryphal legend, which describes the last days of His earthly life, martyrdom and miraculous resurrection. The Savior was depicted sitting, while almost always one hand was shown mournfully pressed to the cheek, and the other was calmly lying on the hip. A crown of thorns was depicted on Christ’s head, with blood flowing across the body in streams. According to the Gospels, a crown made of thorny branches was placed by Roman soldiers on the head of Jesus Christ when he was mocked. In the Gospel of Matthew, this is described in the following words,

Similar sculptures first appeared in Germany in the late 15th — early 16th century. In Russia, sculptures of Christ in the dungeon appeared no earlier than the second half of the 17th century. They came to the country not from Western Europe, but from the Holy Land — the places where the Savior and the apostles lived and preached in ancient times. The first statue of Christ in the dungeon was made by order of Patriarch Nikon for the Resurrection Cathedral in New Jerusalem near Moscow.

In the 18th century, the image of Christ in the dungeon became the most common one among Russian temple sculptures. It could be seen not only in Central Russia but even in Siberia and the Far East. In the Russian North, sculptures of grieving Christ were found in areas bordering the Vologda lands — these included the Vaga river area and the Kargopol region.

Catering to the changing tastes of the society, the image was created not as an old traditional Russian carved icon but in the form of a round, classical sculpture with elements of naturalism.

The sculpture of Christ from the museum’s collection was made by a talented carver: he managed to convey the anatomy and proportions of the body, as well as the expression in the eyes full of sorrow. According to iconography, this sculpture belongs to the early type, where Christ is depicted in a perizoma. In later types, this loincloth was replaced by a cloak covering the legs.