Mantegna’s “Entombment of Christ” is a powerful and poignant engraving that captures the solemnity and grief of Christ’s burial. More than just a visual record of the biblical event, Mantegna’s work offers a deeply human portrayal of mourning and loss. This engraving, with its characteristic precision and stark contrasts, exemplifies Mantegna’s mastery of the medium and his ability to convey profound emotion through line and form. This exploration of “The Entombment” will delve into the details of the composition, the historical context of its creation, and the enduring impact of its message.
Who Was Andrea Mantegna?
Andrea Mantegna, a leading artist of the Italian Renaissance, was born near Padua in the Republic of Venice. His father, a carpenter, died when Mantegna was young, and the promising boy was adopted by Francesco Squarcione. It was common practice for childless masters to adopt and train talented apprentices.
Squarcione, a passionate collector of Greek and Roman statues, vases, reliefs, and other relics, also ran a prominent artist’s workshop, a leading producer of prints at the time. He profoundly influenced Mantegna’s artistic development, instilling in him a deep love for antiquity and classical sculpture.
Beyond instruction in forced perspective and antiquities, Squarcione also provided Mantegna with a Latin education, opening up further avenues of opportunity for the young artist. At the age of 17, following some legal disputes, Mantegna left Squarcione’s workshop and established his own.
He then forged a connection with Squarcione’s rival in Venice, Jacopo Bellini, eventually marrying Bellini’s daughter, Niccolosa. These developments, along with disagreements over payment for Mantegna’s work, led to a formal dissolution of his relationship with his adoptive father.
Despite their personal conflicts, Squarcione’s influence on Mantegna’s career and artistic vision remained indelible. Mantegna considered ancient art superior to nature and dedicated himself to the study of antiquities. This fascination resulted in a prominence of human figures in his paintings, often possessing a sculptural, even rigid, quality. The outlines of his figures are distinctly precise, and his designs have been described as austere.
Giorgio Vasari, in his 1550 publication Lives of the Artists, credits Mantegna with the invention of copperplate engraving in Italy. While this claim is difficult to substantiate, numerous examples of Mantegna’s engravings do exist.
Unlike the more robust woodcuts, copperplates are susceptible to damage, limiting the number of quality prints that can be produced. The earliest prints, sometimes called “proofs,” were often taken by hand to preserve the delicate plate. Later prints were made using a printing press. While the press created sharper, more defined lines, the increased pressure further reduced the number of viable copies before the plate began to deteriorate.
The engraving process involves using a tool called a burin to carve lines into the copperplate. Ink is then applied to the plate, filling the engraved grooves. The printing press forces the paper against the inked plate, creating a reversed image. Both engravings and woodcuts offered artists a valuable source of supplemental income and a means of disseminating their work beyond their immediate locale.
The Power of Line: Mantegna’s “Entombment of Christ”
Upon closer examination of the engraving, we find the familiar elements of the Entombment scene: the swooning Virgin Mary, the dramatic Mary Magdalene, and the praying Apostle John. The composition is structured and balanced by three male figures, one at each end and one in the center, providing strong vertical lines. These figures frame two compact groups of mourners, each containing three individuals.
Dominating the center of the print is a large, rocky hill, its dark opening marking the sepulcher awaiting Christ’s body. To the right, a second rocky outcrop displays three crosses, a stark reminder of the day’s events.
Grouping on the Left
Moving from left to right, our gaze first falls upon a man straining to support his end of the sheet bearing Christ’s body. Significantly, he is dressed in 15th-century Italian attire, not 1st-century Palestinian clothing. This anachronism transcends a specific time and place, emphasizing the timeless relevance of Christ’s story for contemporary viewers.
These two men carrying Christ’s body are Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Their identities are not explicitly indicated, so for the sake of discussion, we will identify the figure on the far left as Joseph. His attention is clearly focused on Christ’s body, seemingly preoccupied with the very real possibility of dropping it. We sense the weight of the body, the struggle to maintain balance, and the effort required to support his end.
This detail is crucial, testifying to both Christ’s humanity and the reality of his death. From the very beginning, Christ’s followers have grappled with questions surrounding his true nature: Did he truly die? Was he truly God? And if God, was he also truly human? In this simple image of Joseph struggling with the weight of a real, dead body, Mantegna addresses these fundamental questions, central to Christian doctrine.
Next, we encounter Mary Magdalene, her signature long hair flowing behind her, her arms raised in a gesture of intense grief as she gazes upon Christ. Mary Magdalene is traditionally depicted as the most demonstrative of Christ’s mourners.
The following two figures are not readily identifiable, but one is clearly another female disciple, standing beside Christ, lost in her despair, and clinging to the burial sheet. Behind her stands a young man, his eyes and face averted, his hands covering his face in an expression of profound sorrow.
Grouping on the Right
At the center of the composition stands Nicodemus, supporting Christ’s feet. His head is turned away, seemingly reacting to the sound of the Virgin Mary, who has just fainted and fallen. Nicodemus’s body partially obscures the entrance to the tomb where Jesus will soon be laid. Beside his feet rests the sepulcher, designed to resemble an altar and inscribed with the words “human generis redemtori,” meaning “the redeemer of mankind.”
Beside Nicodemus, a triangular grouping of three women draws our attention. Lying prostrate in the foreground is the Virgin Mary, who has fainted, her pose mirroring that of her son. Behind her stand two more female mourners. While the Gospels mention several women who remained steadfast throughout the crucifixion and burial, it’s impossible to identify which specific individuals are represented here. At this moment, their focus is on Mary, offering comfort and tending to her needs.
On the far right stands the Apostle John. His figure is notably larger than any other in the engraving, emphasizing his importance. This work, belonging to the Early Renaissance, reflects a period when some artists still employed hieratic scale, a system where figures are sized according to their rank and significance. John, the “beloved disciple,” was the only apostle who remained with Jesus during his trial, crucifixion, and burial, the others having fled in fear. His presence is almost always highlighted in artistic depictions of Christ’s Passion.
In Mantegna’s engraving, John’s hands are folded in prayer, his head raised, and his mouth open, suggesting that he is actively praying, committing Christ’s body to God as it is lowered into the tomb.
It’s crucial to remember that everyone depicted in this scene is Jewish, bound by strict laws concerning contact with the dead. Such contact rendered a person ritually unclean, requiring a seven-day purification process before they could enter the Temple or participate in the community’s religious life.
During major festivals like Passover, this presented a significant challenge, particularly for those who had traveled great distances to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices and prayers at the Temple. Graveyards outside the city were not always clearly marked, and inadvertently walking through one, even unknowingly, could render a traveler unclean, nullifying their journey and requiring them to undergo purification rituals. This practice of marking tombs, ironically, explains Jesus’s use of the term “whitewashed tombs”—the practice of painting grave markers white to warn passersby and prevent accidental defilement.
Thus, as Jesus’s friends tenderly care for his crucified body, they are, ironically, making themselves ritually unclean and unfit to enter the Temple. Yet, it is precisely Christ’s death that ultimately cleanses them, freeing them from the stain of sin and rendering the need for the Temple itself obsolete.
From Death to Redemption: Exploring the Entombment
Mantegna’s “Entombment” invites contemplation of profound theological themes. All the Gospels, and 1 Corinthians 15:4 (“And he was buried, and he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures”), emphasize not only Jesus’s crucifixion and death but also his burial. This emphasis is noteworthy. While burial is typically assumed after death, the Gospel writers felt compelled to explicitly state Christ’s burial, countering early rumors that he had not truly died and affirming the reality of his death.
Holy Saturday, the day Christ lay in the tomb, is often referred to as Silent Saturday. The Catholic Catechism connects this to the idea of Sabbath rest, stating that Christ observed the Sabbath after completing the work of human salvation: “It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ lying in the tomb reveals God’s great Sabbath rest after the fulfillment of man’s salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe.”
The concept of Christ’s work being completed in his death, with the period between Good Friday and Easter Sunday representing a Sabbath observance, is compelling and resonates with themes present in Mantegna’s engraving. The inscription on the tomb, “human generis redemtori” (“the redeemer of mankind”), definitively declares that Christ’s death will redeem humanity.
The religious leaders of the time clung to the letter of the law, missing its spirit. Instead of recognizing the restoration of humanity in Christ, they saw a rule-breaker. Instead of witnessing God’s work unfolding, they perceived violations of divine law. Instead of seeing a man performing God’s work, they viewed a disrupter. Instead of acknowledging the divine authority resting on a man who could heal, they were preoccupied with protecting their own positions.
Christ himself declared that God has always been at work, and so has he, to bring about salvation. In Mantegna’s engraving, we witness this work completed. Christ also foretold a day when the dead will hear and live. As we gaze upon the dead Christ in the print, we anticipate his imminent resurrection, the mourners’ tears turning to joy, and the full realization of Christ’s work: the restoration and healing of humankind. These disciples are called to continue this work, building a kingdom founded on mercy, grace, and redemption. The message of the cross is one of hope, not condemnation.
Sources
E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art. (New York, Phaidon Press, 2016)
Professor Sharon Latchaw Hirsh, How to Look at and Understand Great Art, Lecture series, Great
Courses
Professor William Koss, History of European Art Lecture series, Great Courses
Sister Wendy Beckett, The Story of Painting (London, Dorsey Kindersley, 2000)
Marilyn Stokstad, Art History. (New Jersey, Pearson Education, 2005)
National Gallery of Art website www.nga.gov
Metropolitan Museum of Art website www.metmuseum.org
The Getty Center www.getty.edu
The Masterpiece Cards, www.themasterpiececards.com
Interpreting Christian Art: Reflections on Christian Art edited by Heidi J. Hornik, Mikeal Carl Parsons
And thanks to the Met and Wiki commons quality images for public domain art is now much more
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