Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ) by Giotto

The dead Christ lies on the ground, cradled by his mother, and the grief looks startlingly real. Mary holds her son's head close to her face; John flings his arms wide; mourners sit with their backs to us, as if we had joined the crowd. Giotto painted this around 1305 in Padua's Scrovegni Chapel, and his solid, lifelike people helped point painting toward the Renaissance.