José de Arimateia Statue

José de Arimateia Statue

Returning to the center of the patio, we can observe the four statues that are on the left of the churchyard.

The first is of José of Arimateia, a member of the council, a good and just man, who had not agreed with their destination or with their action. He was from Arimateia, the city of the Jews, and was waiting for the Kingdom of God. José of Arimateia takes the initiative to ask Pilatos for the Jesus body to bury him.

And he brought him down, and wrapped him in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb hewn out of the stone, where no man had yet been put.

At the foot of the statue, José of Arimateia presents a petition to Pilatos, with the inscription: «HIC ACCESSIT AD PILATUM ET PETIT CORPUS JESU», which can be translated as: «going to Pilate, asked for the Jesus body».

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The Bom Jesus do Monte, an unavoidable reference.