Artwork Page for The Entombment

Details / Information for The Entombment

The Entombment

c. 1596

Giovanni de' Vecchi

(Italian, 1536–1615)
Culture
Italy
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and purple-pink wash with admixtures of white, and brush and brown wash, with graphite underdrawing; squared for transfer with graphite
Measurements
Sheet: 20.2 x 14.7 cm (7 15/16 x 5 13/16 in.); Secondary Support: 25.7 x 21.3 cm (10 1/8 x 8 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2017.5
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

By the end of the 1500s, Michelangelo’s treatment of the nude male had permeated artistic practice. Some artists (today called Mannerists) began to stray from the master’s grounding in human anatomy, emphasizing instead the expressive potential that Michelangelo brought to bear on the human form. To make an emotional impact, Giovanni de’ Vecchi created fluid figures with exaggerated proportions, such as the central figure of Christ that appears here. De’ Vecchi used pen and purplish watercolor to render the forms of the dead Christ surrounded by Saint John the Apostle, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, the grief-stricken Virgin Mary, Saint Mary Magdalene (at Christ’s feet), and their companions, who adoringly convey his body to the tomb in the upper left. This drawing was preparatory for an altarpiece for the church of Santa Prassede in Rome.
A vertically oriented pen and ink drawing with purple-pink wash and white highlights depicts figures mourning a central, limp body. To our left, a figure kneels to support the torso; to our right, another holds the feet. A graphite grid overlays the loose lines. In the background, three tiny crosses stand on a hill. Dark and green ink borders frame the scene on light paper, with the number "22" inscribed at top center.

The Entombment

c. 1596

Giovanni de' Vecchi

(Italian, 1536–1615)
Italy

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