Artwork
The Entombment of Christ
The Entombment of Christ is an unspecified painting by the Flemish Baroque painting artist Anthony van Dyck. It dates from 1627 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
History & Provenance
The Entombment of Christ was painted by Anthony van Dyck in 1627. The work depicts the biblical scene of Christ's entombment and is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. The sources provide no further details about its original commission, earlier owners, or subsequent provenance.
Context
Anthony van Dyck painted The Entombment of Christ in 1627, a religious work now housed in the Statens Museum for Kunst.
Anthony van Dyck painted The Entombment of Christ in 1627, a religious work now housed in the Statens Museum for Kunst. The painting depicts the burial of Jesus Christ and is categorized as religious art, reflecting van Dyck's engagement with Counter-Reformation themes and Baroque naturalism. Scholarship emphasizes its significance within van Dyck's early Flemish period and his influence on later religious compositions, situating it within the broader trajectory of 17th-century European painting.
Overview
Created in 1627 by the Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck, this oil painting portrays the moment when Christ’s body is being laid to rest. Executed in the dramatic language of the Baroque, the work is part of the collection of Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst.
Subject & Meaning
The composition gathers a small group of mourners surrounding the shrouded corpse of Jesus. One figure leans over the body, another watches with a sorrowful expression, while others support the bier or gaze downward, emphasizing the solemnity of the burial and the collective grief of the witnesses.
Technique & Style
Van Dyck employs a stark chiaroscuro, contrasting deep shadows with illuminated forms to give the figures a three‑dimensional presence. The careful handling of light highlights the textured folds of the burial cloth and the expressive faces, a hallmark of the Flemish Baroque’s theatrical realism.
Artist & collection
Artist
Sir Anthony van Dyck (; Dutch: Antoon van Dijck; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque artist, who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy.
