Entombment of Christ
Historical Context
The Master of the Virgo inter Virgines painted this Entombment of Christ around 1490 in Delft. His emotionally raw treatment of the Passion, with angular, ungainly figures expressing genuine grief, sets him apart from the more polished Netherlandish painters. The Entombment, showing Christ's body being placed in the tomb, was the penultimate scene in the Passion narrative. This work belongs to the High Renaissance, when the innovations of the preceding century were synthesized into works of monumental clarity and ideal beauty.
Technical Analysis
Oil on panel with the master's characteristically angular, emotionally wrought figures. The raw grief of the mourners is expressed through ungainly postures and anguished faces rather than idealized devotional poses.
