In Johnson’s Lamentation, Jesus has just been taken down from the cross; he lies on the cold ground, the blood from his wounds seeping into the earth. Surrounding him in mourning are the three Marys John mentions in his Gospel as having been present at the Crucifixion: Jesus’s mother; his mother’s sister, who is the wife of Clopas; and Mary Magdalene (John 19:25). They wear patterned cotton dresses, gold halos, and varied reactions to the death of their beloved. Behind them the sky is dark, as if it too is in mourning. The corpses of the two criminals Jesus was killed with still hang on their crosses.