- The Entombment (Michelangelo)
-
The Entombment 
Artist Michelangelo Year circa 1500-1501 Type Tempera on panel Dimensions 162 cm × 150 cm (64 in × 59 in) Location London, National Gallery The Entombment is an unfinished painting of the placing of the body of Jesus in the garden tomb, attributed to the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti and dated to around 1500 or 1501. It is in the National Gallery in London, which purchased the work in 1868 from Robert Macpherson, a Scottish photographer resident in Rome who had discovered the painting there.
The chronological position of this work has been the source of some dispute, although it is generally considered an early work. Some authorities believe that it may have been executed by one of Michelangelo's pupils from a drawing by the master or was a direct imitation of his work[1].
According to documents discovered in 1981[2], Michelangelo had been commissioned to paint a panel for the church of Sant'Agostino in Rome, but in the end gave back the sum received. It is probable that this work was the "Entombment", which remained unfinished upon Michelangelo's return to Florence.
The centre of the panel portrays Christ carried to the sepulchre. The bearded elderly man behind him is Joseph of Arimathea, who gave up his tomb for use as Christ's sepulchre. The figure on the left is probably Saint John, wearing a long orange-red gown, with Mary Magdalene kneeling at his feet.
The identity of the two figures on the right is uncertain (Nicodemus, the inner one, and Mary Salome have been proposed). Not present is the figure of the Virgin Mary.
External links
- Page at Buonarroti.eu (Italian)
Michelangelo Key: *Attributed · †LostSculptures Florence, c. 1488–92†Head of a Faun (c. 1488) · Madonna of the Stairs (c. 1491) · Battle of the Centaurs (c. 1492) · Crucifix (1492)Ark of St Dominic (1494–95)†Sleeping Cupid (1496) · †Standing Cupid · Bacchus (1496–97) · Pietà (1499–1500) · David (1501-04) · Madonna of Bruges (1501–04) · St. Paul (1503–04) · St. Peter (1503–04) · Pius (1503–04) · Taddei Tondo (c. 1503) · Pitti Tondo (c. 1503) · St. Matthew (c. 1505)Tomb of Pope Julius IIMoses (c. 1513–15) · Rebellious Slave (1513–16) · Dying Slave (1513–16) · Young Slave (c. 1519–36) · Bearded Slave (c. 1519–36) · Atlas Slave (c. 1519–36) · Awakening Slave (c. 1519–36) · The Genius of Victory (c. 1532–34) · Rachel (1545) · Leah (1545)Medici Chapel (1519–34)Cristo della Minerva (Christ Carrying the Cross) (1519–20) · Crouching Boy (c. 1530-34) · Brutus (1540) · *Palestrina Pietà (1550) · Florentine Pietà (c. 1550) · Rondanini Pietà (1552–64)
Paintings *The Torment of Saint Anthony (c. 1487-88) · Manchester Madonna (c. 1497) · Doni Tondo (c. 1503–06) • †Battle of Cascina (1504) · The Entombment (c. 1505) · †Leda and the Swan (1530)
Ceiling (1508–12; including Separation of Light from Darkness, Creation of Adam, Prophet Jonah, Prophet Jeremiah, Prophet Daniel, Prophet Isaiah, Prophet Joel, Prophet Ezekiel, Prophet Zechariah) · The Last Judgment (1534–41)Cappella Paolina frescoes (1542–50)Architecture Piazza del Campidoglio (1538) · Palazzo Farnese (1546) · St. Peter's Basilica (1546–1564) · San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (1559–60) · Porta Pia (1561–65) · Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (1561–)Works on paper Epifania (c. 1550–53)Milieu Cecchino dei Bracci · Tommaso dei Cavalieri · Vittoria Colonna · Ascanio Condivi · Sebastiano del Piombo · Febo di Poggio · Luigi del Riccio · Gherardo PeriniCategories:- 1500s paintings
- Michelangelo paintings
- Collections of the National Gallery, London
- Unfinished paintings
- Paintings depicting Jesus
- Paintings depicting death
- Christian death-related art
- Entombment of Christ
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
