The Entombment of Christ

Hillary Hartman

Art History II, Spring II 2012

The Entombment of Christ

        The Entombment of Christ (1602–1603) is a painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. It was painted for Santa Maria in Vallicella, a church built for the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, and adjacent to the buildings of the order. The painting was originally commissioned by Alessandro Vittrice in 1601 and completed by two years later. Now it is among the treasures of the Vatican Pinacoteca. The Entombment of Christ presents a symbiosis between an emotionally strung theme and a monolithic, balanced composition. Suffering is elevated to an aesthetically pleasing – and hence tragic – conception that flows from a congregation of Christ’s followers Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene along with his Mother, remove Christ's body from the cross and place it in the tomb.

The entombment shows five figures placing the body of Jesus on to a piece of wood after He had been taking down from the cross. The painting is very dark with the exception of the white robe that has been placed around the waist of the center figure. The figures in the painting are all somber, most with their eyes closed and the woman in the back standing with her arms open and eyes directed towards the sky. The painting all centers around the central figure, and the background is blacked out. The painting attempts to depict that feelings and emotions people had towards the crucifixion of Jesus and the sympathy and distraught they had over him dying. The painting shows that the central figure is the most important figure in the painting by the artist painting the other figures surrounding him, with their bodies curved towards him almost in a circular type pattern, as well as the dark colors and medium that is used to bring the attention back to the red and white cloth that are the brightest items in the painting. All these elements lead the viewer’s eye to the center figure.

        The four middle figures are all painted with their bodies cascading over the central figure. The lines of their bodies all lead your eye to direct your attention to this central figure. The woman standing the back of the painting has her arms raised in the air over the central figure, which again leads your eyes back to this figure. The man in the middle is the largest figure in the painting, his body stretching from one end of the painting to the other and taking up the majority of the center of the painting. The entire background of the painting is done in black as if not to draw your attention away from this figure. All other figures are also done in darker colors, except for the red cloth that leads your eye again from the back figures to the central figure of the man in white. The main figure is also dressed only in a white cloth that was painted with direct lines that lead your eye to see the length and massiveness of his body. The unity in the painting is given from the five figures centering their bodies around the main focal point of the figure in the center, as well as the straight line from the board on which they are all standing on, as if to not let your eye go below that point. The woman standing the background is the only figure whose body stretches upwards with hands raised to give the viewer the idea that he has gone to Heaven. In terms of the scale of the painting, each figure gets smaller starting with the woman who has her hands raised. Her body is the only out stretched body, with each figure in front of her bending farther down until you reach the main figure who as stated takes up the most space in the painting.